Ruling in a lawsuit brought under the ADEA, the Supreme Court determined that employers can be held liable for age discrimination against older workers even if they intended no harm. At the same time, the court allowed employers to use "reasonable" factors such as cost cutting to defend business practices that might have more severe impacts on older than on younger workers. However, in June 2009, a new Court ruling shifted the burden of proof onto employees seeking to prove that age discrimination was a factor in their demotion or dismissal.