I think this is actually bad for older job seekers no matter what the outcome is, just because of awareness. The next time a skilled but borderline elder candidate applies to a younger company, the company will probably have a higher chance to pass on the candidate.
Cribbing from Wikipedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brian_Reid_(computer_scientist)), he's five years away from the traditional US retirement age of 65, and he was a director level executive at DEC. I imagine he played the money game long enough at DEC that he's in fine shape, even without his teaching income.
