## Facts

- Dolores M. Oubre worked as a scheduler at a Louisiana power plant operated by Entergy Operations, Inc.
- After a poor performance evaluation, her supervisor offered her a choice between improving performance or accepting a voluntary severance arrangement.
- Entergy provided a severance packet giving Oubre 14 days to decide; she consulted attorneys and signed a release on January 31, 1995.
- The release broadly waived “any and all” claims against Entergy; Oubre received $6,258 in severance paid in six installments over four months.
- The release did not satisfy statutory conditions for waiving Age Discrimination in Employment Act (ADEA) claims under the Older Workers Benefit Protection Act (OWBPA), including: insufficient time to consider, no 7-day revocation period, and no specific reference to ADEA claims.
- After receiving the final payment, Oubre filed an EEOC charge and sued for constructive discharge based on age under the ADEA (and also asserted state-law claims).

## Issues

1. Whether a release that fails to meet OWBPA requirements can bar an employee’s ADEA claim.
2. Whether an employee must tender back (or offer to return) severance consideration before challenging a noncompliant ADEA release.

## Decision

- The Supreme Court reversed the Fifth Circuit and remanded.
- A release that does not comply with OWBPA’s minimum requirements is ineffective to waive or bar ADEA claims.
- Oubre’s retention of the severance payments did not ratify the defective release.
- The ADEA/OWBPA scheme does not require tender back of consideration as a precondition to bringing an ADEA suit challenging a noncompliant waiver.

## Legal Principles

- Under the OWBPA, an employee “may not waive” ADEA claims unless the waiver is “knowing and voluntary” as defined by the statute’s enumerated minimum requirements.
- Courts may not use common-law contract doctrines (including ratification or equitable estoppel based on retention of consideration) to enforce an ADEA waiver that fails OWBPA’s statutory conditions.
- A tender-back rule that effectively insulates noncompliant waivers is inconsistent with OWBPA’s text and would undermine enforcement by making challenges impractical for discharged employees.

## Conclusion

The Court held that OWBPA establishes mandatory statutory prerequisites for waiving ADEA claims; a release that omits those requirements is unenforceable as to ADEA claims, and the employee may sue without first returning the severance money.


Oubre v. Entergy Operations, Inc., 522 U.S. 422 (1998)