Affirming the district court’s grant of summary judgment for the Regents of the University of California on Jordan Spatz’s claims under the Age Discrimination Act of 1975, the panel held that the Age Act did not apply to the University of California San Francisco’s refusal to admit Spatz to its neurological surgery residency program.

Spatz alleged that he was denied admission to the medical residency program due to age-based discrimination and retaliation. By its terms, the Age Act exempts from its coverage “any employment practice of any employer.” Giving the terms “employer” and “employment practice” their ordinary common-law meaning, the panel concluded that ranking medical residents is an employment practice to which the Age Act does not apply. To the extent that Spatz’s Age Act claim is not barred, Spatz failed to demonstrate a genuine issue of material fact.

https://cdn.ca9.uscourts.gov/datastore/opinions/2025/08/18/24-2997.pdf