Court Dismisses Grumpy Hospital Clerk's Claim of Age Discrimination

On March 12, 2018, a Virginia federal court dismissed a claim of age discrimination brought by a 54 year old woman who had worked for Norton Community Hospital as an admissions clerk for nearly 23 years.  In Moore v. Mountain States Health Alliance, et. al., No. 2:16CV00014 (W.D. Va. 2018), Judge James Jones granted summary judgment to the employer, reasoning that the undisputed facts showed that the plaintiff could not prove that she was meeting...
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Yet Another Example of the Importance of Documenting Performance Issues

Kollman & Saucier
Kollman & Saucier
02/06/2018
A case decided this past week in the United State District Court for the District of Maryland highlights the importance of documenting an employee’s (non-discriminatory) performance issues at the time they occur. Ward v. Columbia Bank, No. CCBC-16-3606 (D. Md. 2/2/18).  Plaintiff Ward began working for Columbia Bank in 1999, and was promoted to branch manager five years later.  In 2012, her branch’s overall performance began to decline. ...
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Not So Happy 420 Day: Court Upholds Dismissal of Pot-Selling Bartender

Kollman & Saucier
Kollman & Saucier
04/20/2017
On this 4/20, what could be more topical than a discussion of medical marijuana in the workplace?  As readers of this blog may recall, the subject has previously garnered our attention, given that it raises many sticky issues such as federalism, the business judgment rule, disability law, and the balance between employee privacy interests and employers’ interests in maintaining safe and healthy workplaces. The Current Legal Regime Governing...
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Split Developing On ADEA Disparate Impact Claims

A federal judge in California recently ruled that PricewaterhouseCoopers, LLC (“PwC”) must defend against a class action claim of unintentional age discrimination.  Rabin v. PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP, No. 16-cv-02276-JST (N.D. Cal. Feb. 17, 2017). On April 17, 2016, Steve Rabin, on behalf of himself and other similarly situated unsuccessful job applicants, filed a putative class action alleging that PwC maintains hiring policies and other...
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Non-Renewal of Contract or Termination?

Employers often think that not renewing an employee’s contract is somehow qualitatively different from a termination of employment.  In some cases, and in certain limited circumstances, that may be true.  It is not true, however, with regard to statutory retaliation claims (e.g., my contract was not renewed because I engaged in activity protected by Title VII, the ADA, the FLSA, or some other statute containing anti-retaliation provisions).  In...
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Appellate Court Holds That ADEA Plaintiffs Can Use Employees Over 40 as Comparators

Kollman & Saucier
Kollman & Saucier
01/18/2017
In Karlo, et al. v. Pittsburgh Glass Works, LLC (no. 15-3435; filed January 10, 2017), the Third Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that plaintiffs in an ADEA disparate impact claim can make out a prima facie case by showing that certain age subgroups within the protected class were treated differently from other subgroups within that same class.  Put another way, an employer cannot simply lump all those employees over the age of 40 into one pot when...
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Officer’s Behavior Dooms Discrimination Claims

A recent decision from a D.C. federal court offers a reminder that employers who investigate workplace disputes and make employment decisions based on documented evidence put themselves in a better position to defeat lawsuits challenging those decisions.  Ladson v. George Wash. Univ., No. 14-cv-001586 (D.D.C. Sept. 1, 2016). Todd Ladson was a 24 year veteran of the George Washington University (GW) campus police when, in 2013, he was accused of...
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Appellate Court Holds That Applicants May Bring Disparate Impact Claim Under ADEA

Kollman & Saucier
Kollman & Saucier
12/04/2015
In 2005, the Supreme Court concluded that the Age Discrimination in Employment Act of 1967 (ADEA), which prohibits discrimination against individuals who are at least 40 years old, provides not only for (1) disparate treatment claims, in which there is intentional discrimination by an employer because of protected status, but also for (2) disparate impact claims, in which facially neutral employment practices “fall more harshly on one group than...
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Are You Ever "Too Old" For Cereal? Kellogg's Thinks So. And Got In Trouble.

Kellogg USA finds itself facing a jury trial.  In McCartt v. Kellogg USA, Inc., No. 5:14-318-DCR (E.D. Ky. Oct. 14, 2015), a former sales representative, James McCartt, was over age 60 when he was fired in a corporate downsizing. He sued for age discrimination because his manager, Kevin Grzanka, had made an age based comment about his performance.  His unwise manager had said that Mr. McCartt was "too old and set in his ways" and that Kellogg and...
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Ageist Comments Not Enough to Defeat Summary Judgment

Kollman & Saucier
Kollman & Saucier
06/15/2015
A supervisor's use of the words "old school" and "historically" were not enough to get a  50 year old employee's claim of discriminatory termination to a jury.  In  a June 12, 2015 ruling, the  United States Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit affirmed a grant of summary judgment to the employer, Gallup Inc.  Wagner v. Gallup Inc., No. 14-2746 (8th Cir. 6/12/15). The terminated employee, Rodd Wagner, worked for Gallup as  a subject matter...
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