Is 'OK, Boomer' age discrimination? Supreme Court might tell us

Life may be a meme—or at least it may seem that way sometimes, especially after a meme embodying intergenerational conflict recently worked its way into arguments in an age discrimination case before the highest court in the land. At oral arguments in Babb v. Wilkie, Chief Justice John Roberts asked one of the advocates if using the phrase "OK, Boomer" during the hiring process was age discrimination.

Dismissive attitude may not be easily dismissed

According to Merriam Webster, a meme is "an idea, behavior, style, or usage that spreads from person to person within a culture [or] an amusing or interesting item (such as a captioned picture or video) or genre of items that is spread widely online especially through social media." A meme that has joined the cultural zeitgeist in recent years, "OK, Boomer" is essentially a dismissive response by Millennials or members of Generation Z (also known as Zoomers) to Baby Boomers.

One use of the meme that could be an issue for employers might go something like this:

Baby Boomer employee: "In my experience, the customer is always right."

Millennial supervisor: "Yeah, OK, Boomer."

The case before the Supreme Court, from the U.S. 11th Circuit Court of Appeals (whose rulings apply to employers in Alabama, Florida, and Georgia), involves a claim of discrimination brought by a federal employee under the Age Discrimination in Employment Act. The chief justice's question and the resulting Supreme Court opinion may shed light on what age discrimination looks like in our evolving workplace.