Young and Old: Age Discrimination in Italian Case Law

Abstract

This article examines the first judgments issued by Italian courts on age-related discrimination, both against the young and the elderly. The two judgments must be welcomed insofar as they rectify the delay in Italian jurists approaching this issue, in spite of the clear signals received from the EU. While the line of reasoning may still be weak and unsatisfactory in some respects, such mistakes should be considered as unavoidable setbacks, which do not in any way diminish the importance of these decisions in the Italian context.