Too Old to Have Rights

After the death of his first wife, Isaac Presler decided to abandon the shoe-manufacturing business, and in 1952 he began a new career as a sales-clerk at Macy's department store in Manhattan. He was then 56, but in his spare time he also earned a high school diploma and went on to college courses. He was 68 when he finally got his degree as a bachelor of business administration from CUNY'S Baruch College. At 74, after 18 years and an excellent record at Macy's, he finally retired and asked for his pension.

The store gives pensions to employees with more than 1 5 years of service, but only if the 15 years are finished before the age of 65. Presler complained to the New York State Division of Human Rights, claiming discrimination because of age. But New York's Human Rights Law, which was designed so that it would not interfere with mandatory retirement rules, applies only to people between 40 and 65. Though Presler's case was entirely different, the division said it could not help him. He was simply too old to qualify as a victim of discrimination against the old.

With help from Columbia Law Professor Telford Taylor and Legal Services for the Elderly Poor, he appealed all the way up to the Supreme Court. A month ago the court declined to hear his case. Most commonly, that means that the Justices do not consider the issue involved to be important enough. Presler, now 76, suffers from arteriosclerosis and has moved with his second wife to Miami Beach, where Social Security is his principal source of income. He is still undiscouraged. Of late, he has taken courses in gourmet cooking, English and creative writing.

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