ADEA -- Prima Facie Hurdle Heightened -- SJ Affirmed

In Schoonmaker v. Spartan Graphics Leasing, LLC (No. 09-1732)(decided February 3, 2010)(ADEA), the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals reiterated that in workforce reduction situations the fourth element of the McDonnell Douglas test is modified. Specifically, in workforce reduction situations, Plaintiffs must provide additional evidence tending to demonstrate that the employer impermissibly singled him/her out for discharge. (This is instead of the traditional fourth element which is that the employe was replaced by someone outside the protected class.) In doing so, the Court made it more difficult for employees who are terminated in workforce reductions to state a prima facie case of age discrimination.

Plaintiff proffered three sets of additional evidence to satisfy the fourth element of the McDonnell Douglas test. The Sixth Circuit rejected Plaintiff's additional evidence. First, retaining a younger employer is irrelevant unless Plaintiff can she he or she was more qualified than that younger employee. Second, a sample including two other terminated employees is too small to be probative. Third, failure to follow layoff criteria in handbook does not demonstrate discrimination.

Click here for a copy of the Sixth Circuit's decision.