11.10 Age Discrimination-Defenses-Bona FIDE Employee Benefit Plan is an employer’s defense against age discrimination claims. This defense refers to an employer's legitimate, non-discriminatory, and reasonable plan that is designed to secure benefits for its employees, regardless of age. This type of plan can be used as an affirmative defense against an employee’s claim of age discrimination, as it demonstrates that the employer did not act with age discrimination in mind when making decisions about employee benefits. There are two types of bona fide employee benefit plans: seniority-based plans and merit-based plans. Seniority-based plans are those that provide benefits to employees based on the amount of time they have been employed with the company, while merit-based plans provide benefits to employees based on their performance.