14 Fair empl.prac.cas. 921, 13 Empl. Prac. Dec. P 11,409 Howard E. Bunch v. United States of America

Bunch appeals from a judgment entered after the district court dismissed his action for relief from age discrimination in employment. The court dismissed for want of jurisdiction, and the pivotal question on this appeal is whether the amendments bringing federal employees under the Age Discrimination in Employment Act (“ADEA”), 29 U.S.C. § 633a, apply to cases pending, either administratively or in the federal district court, on the effective date of those amendments. Applying the principle of Bradley v. Richmond School Board (1974) 416 U.S. 696 , 94 S.Ct. 2006 , 40 L.Ed.2d 476 , and the analogous treatment of the 1972 amendments to Title VII, we hold that the court had jurisdiction under 29 U.S.C. § 633a(c).

In 1973, when Bunch was 44 years old, he applied for a job as an Air Reserve Technician Flight Instructor. He was listed as qualified for the job on the Civil Service Register, and he was certified as the first choice of the local commander. On April 13, 1973, the national headquarters of the Air Force Reserve selected the alternate applicant. One of the reasons given for this decision was related to Bunch’s age. The bureaucratic wrinkle is that a person must be a member of…