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( Fi l ed: J anuary12, 2010) OPI NI ON O F THE COURT G R E E N B E R G , C i r cui tJ udge. T hi s m at t ercomes on be for e the C our ton an appe al br oughtbyJ ohn H y l and i n t hi s act i on t hat H y l and broug ht agai nsthis form er em ploy er, A m eri can G eneral L i fe C om pan i es,2

L .L .C ., a w h o lly -o w n e d su b sid iar yo f A m e ric a n In ter n a tio n a l G ro u p , In c . In h is compl ai ntH y l and cha r ged thatA m er i can G ener al t erm i nat ed hi s empl oym entbyr eas on of hi s age i n vi ol at i on of the A ge D i s cr i m i nat i on i n E m pl oym entA ct , 29 U . S. C . § 621 et s eq. , and the N ew J er s eyL aw A gai ns tD i s cr i m i nat i on, N . J . St at . A nn. § 10: 5- 1 ets eq. ( W es t2002) . T he D i s t r i ctC our thad j ur i s di ct i on pur s uantt o 28 U . S. C . §§ 1331 and 1367. A ft erdi s coveryA m er i can G ener al m oved fors um m aryj udgm entand the D i s t r i ct C our tgr ant ed the mot i on byan opi ni on and or derdat ed Sept ember12, 2008, ent er ed S e p t e mb e r1 7 , 2 0 0 8 . Hy l a n d t h e n a p p e a l e d . W e h a v e j u r i s d i c t i o n p u r s u a n tt o 2 8 U. S . C. § 1291. W e exe r ci s e pl enaryr evi ew on t hi s appea l and thus can a ffi r m onl y“i f the p lea d in g s, d e p o sitio n s, a n sw e rs to in ter ro g a to rie s, a n d a d m iss io n s o n f ile, to g e th e r w ith t he af fi davi t s , i f any , s how t hatt her e i s no genui ne i s s ue as t o anym at er i al fac tand that [A m erican G en era l] is en ti tl ed to a ju d g m en t as a m att er o f law . ” F ed . R . C iv. P. 56 (c); see S an tos e x rel. B ea to v . U n it ed S tat es, 55 9 F . 3 d 1 8 9 , 1 9 3 (3d C ir . 2 0 0 9 ). T he bas i c fa ct s i n t hi s cas e i n an overvi ew s ens e ar e noti n di s put e. H y l and i s an att or ney atl aw w hom A m er i can G ener al ori t s pr edec es s orempl oy ed i n a l egal pos i t i on fr om 1989, w hen he gr aduat ed fr om l aw s chool , unt i l A ugus t2005 w hen A m er i can G ener al t er m i nat ed hi s empl oym entw hen he w as 56 y ear s ol d byel i m i nat i ng hi s pos i t i on att he t i m e of a r eor gani zat i on of i t s empl oym ents t ructur e. T hough H y l and i ndi cat es t hathe “w as t er m i nat ed as par tof an ove r al l r eor gani zat i on and/ orr educt i on i n for ce, ” he cont ends t hat“thi s s o- cal l ed r eor gani zat i on w as actual l yan att empt t o getr i d of one ol der3 empl oy ee, ” i . e. , hi m . A ppel l ant ’ s br . at19. H y l and cont ends t hatA m er i can G ener al r epl ace d hi m w i t h T i m ot hyB ol den w ho i s about ni ne y ear s y oungert han he i s . I n D uffyv. PaperM agi c G r oup, I nc. , 265 F. 3d 163, 167 ( 3d C i r . 2001) , w e i ndi cat ed thatone of the el ement s of a pr i m a fa ci e ca s e i n an age d isc rim in a tio n a c tio n p re d ica ted o n in d ire c t ev id e n c e is th a t th e p e rso n u lti m a tely r epl aci ng t he pl ai nt i ff be s uffi ci ent l yy oungert han the pl ai nt i ff s o t hatan i nfer ence of age di s cr i m i nat i on can be dr aw n fr om t he r epl ace m ent . T he di ffe r ence i n age be t w een

H y l and and Bol den s at i s fi es t hatcr i t er i on. N o tw ith stan d ing the d iffe ren ce in ag es b etw ee n H y land an d B o lden , the D istri ct C o u rt hel d t hata r eas onabl e fa ctfi ndercoul d notconcl ude thatB ol den had r epl ace d H y l and and t hus H y l and di d notm ake outa pr i m a fa ci e ca s e of di s cr i m i nat i on. I n t hi s r egar d, t he r ecor d s how s t hatH y l and s er ved i n t he pos i t i on of Seni orA t t or neybutt hatA m er i can Ge n e r a l a p p o i n t e d Bo l d e n t o f i l l a n e w p o s i t i o n a s As s o c i a t e Ge n e r a l Co u n s e l . Of cour s e, an empl oy erdoes notens ur e thatone pos i t i on w i l l be cons i der ed t o have r epl ace d a n o th e r sim p lyb yc h a n g in g th e tit le o f th e o rig in a l p o sitio n . H e re , h o w e v e r, as A ss o c iate G ener al C ouns el B ol den per for m ed func t i ons t hatH y l and had notper for m ed butdi d not per for m dut i es t hatH y l and had pe r for m ed. T hough t her e w as s om e over l ap betw een H y l and’ s and B ol den’ s dut i es t he di ffe r ence betw een thei rpos i t i ons w as s o s i gni fi cant t hata r eas onabl e tr i erof the fa ctcannots ayt hatt he di ffe r ence s i n t hei rpos i t i ons w as sim p lyco sm eti c. In c o n side ri n g the tw o p o sit ion s itis high lysign ifi ca n t th at B o lden ’s4

g ro ss sa lar yw a s a lm o st $ 5 5 ,0 0 0 h ig h e r th a n H y lan d ’s, m a k in g it v e ryd if f icu lt t o c o n c lu d e th a t B o ld e n re p la c e d H y la n d . S e e M o n a c o v . A m e ri c a n G e n e ra l A s s u ra n c e C o ., 3 5 9 F .3 d 2 9 6 , 3 0 5 (3 d C ir. 2 0 0 4 ). In f a c t, af ter A m e ric a n G e n e ra l term in a ted H y lan d it di vi ded hi s r es pons i bi l i t i es among var i ous empl oy ees , s om e ol derand s om e y oungert han H y l and. I n t he ci r cumst ance s , w e agr ee w i t h t he D i s t r i ctC our tt hatH y l and di d not

e sta b lish a p rim a f

a c ie c a se a n d th u s h is c a se h a d to f a il. W e re ali ze that at a N o v em b er o r D ec em b er 2 0 0 4 , staff m ee ti n g M arc H erli n g , H y land ’s d ir ec t sup erv isor an d the p ri m e m o v er in the reo rga n izati o n that resu lt ed in H y land ’s term ination ref

erred to H y land as th e “ o ld m an ” o f th e o p era ti o n . B u t th e D istri ct C o u rt bel i eved thatt hi s s t r ayr emar k m ade t en mont hs befor e H y l and’ s t erm i nat i on coul d not s u p p o rt a n in f

e re n c e o f a g e d is c ri m in a tio n u n d e rl y in g H y la n d ’s te rm in a tio n a n d w e a g re e . S e e F u e n tes v . P e rsk ie, 3 2 F .3 d 7 5 9 , 7 6 7 (3 d C ir. 1 9 9 4 ). W e d o n o t th in k th a t a s in g le r emar k t hatm i ghtr efl ectt he dec l ar ant ’ s r ecogni t i on of an e m pl oy ee’ s age i n a cont ext u n re late d to th e e m p lo y e e ’s te rm in a tio n is s u f f icie n t ev id e n c e to su p p o rt a p rim a f a c ie cas e of a ge di s cr i m i nat i on bas ed on di r ectevi dence att he t i m e thatt he empl oy erl at er t er m i nat es t he empl oy ee. A ft eral l , w hetherornota s uper vi s orm akes r efe r ence t o an empl oy ee’ s age i ti s l i kel yt hathe w i l l have s om e conc eptof i t . I n anyevent , i tw oul d be unfor tunat e i f the court s for ced the adopt i on of an e m pl oym entcul tur e thatr equi r ed every one i n t he s t ructur e t o be ca r eful s o t hateveryr emar k m ade e verydaypas s es t he empl oym entequi val entof bei ng pol i t i cal l ycorr ectl es ti tbe us ed l at eragai ns tt he5 e m p lo y e r i n litig a tio n . W e c a n u n d e rsta n d w h yH y lan d b e liev e s th a t A m e ric a n G e n e ra l trea ted h im u n f a irly th o u g h w e , o f

c o u rse , ex p re ss n o v iew o n th a t p o ss ib ili ty . N e v e rth e les s, it is n e c e ss a ryto re m e m b e r th a t th e a g e d isc rim in a tio n law s a re n o t in ten d e d to re m e d ya ll o f th e p o ss ib le w r ongful adver s e empl oym entdeci s i ons byan empl oy erand the l aw s ur el ys houl d notbe us ed t o i m pede a n empl oy er ’ s eff or tt o or gani ze i t s bus i nes s as i tdeems fi ts o l ong as t he empl oy eri n doi ng s o does notvi ol at e empl oym entage di s cr i m i nat i on r es t r i ct i ons . See G rayv. Y ork N ew spapers, Inc. , 95 7 F . 2d 10 70 , 10 83 (3d C i r. 19 92 ) ( “[T ]he A D E A i s a di s cr i m i nat i on s t atut e and i s noti nt ended t o handcuf f the managementand ow ner s of b u sine sses to the statu s q u o . ”). F o r th e f o re g o in g re a so n s a s w e ll as f o r th e re a so n s th a t D istric t C o u rt se t f o rth in its opi ni on dat ed Sept ember 12, 2008, w e w i l l aff i r m t he or derfors um m aryj udgm entdat ed Sept ember 12, 2008, ent er ed Sept ember17, 2008.