The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission made headlines across the country by filing a lawsuit against AT&T, alleging the company has no good reason to refuse rehiring its retired employees.

Louis Graziano, an EEOC attorney on the case, told the Washington Post that "to deny you the opportunity to work again doesn't make any sense, particularly if you have experience. The government doesn't prohibit you from having a policy that makes no sense, but if it adversely affects workers over 40, then it violates the law."

The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission reported a more than 15 percent increase in the number of charges filed for age discrimination cases in 2008 versus the previous year. A report in the Washington Times suggests that "the economy is likely a key factor in the sharp rise in EEOC complaints along with a lot of poor communication among managers and workers as difficult decisions are made at downsizing companies."

Portions of the Lilly Ledbetter Act apply to a series of existing laws, including the Age Discrimination in Employment Act. The new law reverses a U.S. Supreme Court decision, effectively eliminating the statute of limitations as a defense in wage discrimination cases.