AARP Eye Center
The Takeaway: Too Old to Wear Speedos? Social Security Disability Payments in Danger?
By Tina Johnson-Marcel, August 22, 2011 08:58 AM
Standard policy or discrimination? A New York man says he was fired from his job as a lifeguard in 2007 because he refused to wear the required bikini-style swimsuit for an annual qualifying swim test. Roy Lester, now 61, filed a lawsuit claiming age discrimination. Lester, who has 40 years of water safety experience, says older lifeguards were slowly being phased out of Jones Beach and the swimsuit mandate was a way to do it. An appeals court recently reinstated a second suit which was dropped in 2009 after the first claim was dismissed. 
His argument: As a man in his 50s, he felt more comfortable in longer swimwear, not a suit designed with this guy in mind. Also, no one over 50 should be allowed to wear Speedo bikinis. Ever. Period. He's serious.
"I wore a Speedo when I was in my 20s, but come on. There should be a law prohibiting anyone over the age of 50 from wearing a Speedo. ... There's a thing called aging and there's a thing called aging gracefully."
What do you think?
... Laid off workers, aging baby boomers push Social Security disability to verge of insolvency. From AP: Applications are up nearly 50 percent over a decade ago as people with disabilities lose their jobs and can't find new ones in an economy that has shed nearly 7 million jobs. The stampede for benefits is adding to a growing backlog of applicants - many wait two years or more before their cases are resolved - and worsening the financial problems of a program that's been running in the red for years.
... Monday QuickTakes: Hospice care lobbyists fight to prevent Medicare payment cuts ... Seniors eat better with a companion ... Obama administration works to rekindle excitement among Hispanic voters ... New rules for airlines kick in this week to protect fliers
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