Applicant from Abroad for Job in U.S. Not Covered by ADEA
Posted Aug 17, 2001

The Age Discrimination in Employment Act (ADEA ) does not cover foreign nationals applying from abroad for jobs in the U.S., the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 4^th Circuit recently ruled. The case, Reyes-Gaona v. North Carolina Growers Association, involved a foreign national who was denied agricultural work in the U.S. because of his age.

Luis Reyes-Gaona, a Mexican national over the age of 40, applied for an agricultural job through the Mexico-based office of Del-Al Associates, an agent of the defendant, North Carolina Growers Association (NCGA) that recruits H2A agricultural workers. Del-Al told Mr. Reyes-Gaona that the NCGA would not accept workers over the age of 40, unless those workers had previously worked for the NCGA. The plaintiff filed suit against the NCGA and Del-Al alleging age discrimination in violation of ADEA.

The Fourth Circuit affirmed the district court’s decision to dismiss the action and stated that although the ADEA makes it unlawful for an employer to discriminate on the basis of age against any individual with respect to his employment in the U.S., it does not extend to age discrimination by U.S corporations against foreign nationals in foreign countries. Instead, the extraterritorial application of the ADEA extends only to certain U.S citizens employed overseas, not foreign nationals in foreign countries.