NFL Agrees to Stop Forcing Out Older Officials

The NFL has agreed to abandon a policy requiring older officials to retire or change to jobs off the field, as part of a settlement with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, which had sued the league on behalf of two former referees.

The federal agency had sued on the basis of age discrimination after the NFL dismissed John Fette and Frederick Silva on grounds that they had become too old to perform their on-field duties.

Fette was 62 when dropped from the officials’ roster in 1987, and Silva was 61 when dismissed the next year.

The referees will divide $67,500 in back pay under the settlement, and the league also has agreed to set up procedures for game officials to air complaints of age discrimination.