interviews, but Defendant Starbucks Corporation ("Starbucks") did not hire her. Boyajian attributes this outcome to age discrimination, and filed this disparate treatment claim under the Age Discrimination in Employment Act ("ADEA"), 29 U.S.C. § 621 et seq., and Maine Human Rights Act ("MHRA"), 5 M.R.S.A. § 4551 et seq.
A. Application to Hay Building Location Boyajian, then aged 53, applied to the Starbucks Hay Building location on November 15, 2005. (See Defendant's Statement of Undisputed Material Facts ("Def.'s SMF") (Docket # 46) ¶ 1; Plaintiffs Opposition to Defendant's Statement of Material Facts and Plaintiffs Statement of Additional Facts ("Pl.'s OSMF") (Docket # 50) ¶ 1.) Erika McIntire ("McIntire") was the Store Manager at the Hay Building location at that time, and initially reviewed Boyajian's application sometime between November 17 and 22. Upon her initial review, McIntire discounted Boyajian's application, ostensibly because of Boyajian's request for a relatively high starting wage. McIntire took no further action until Boyajian called her to check on the status of her application. At this point, McIntire and Boyajian scheduled an interview for December 5.
During the interview, McIntire used the Starbucks Behavioral Interview Deck and recorded notes on the Starbucks Behavioral Rating Form, although Boyajian asserts that McIntire did not consistently follow the Interview Deck instructions. At the conclusion of the interview, McIntire rated Boyajian "recommend with some reservations," but had concerns about Boyajian's availability and disrespectful body language. (Id. ¶ 8.) Boyajian claims that she told McIntire during the interview that she was more available than her application indicated; however, she does not deny McIntire's characterization of her body language. Despite her concerns, McIntire told Boyajian that she would contact Boyajian's references before any decision was made, and asked Boyajian to follow up in two weeks.
Sometime during the two-week period following the interview, Boyajian called the store to check on the status of her application. She spoke to a store employee and asked when McIntire would be in. The employee informed Boyajian that s/he could not provide that information.
Approximately two weeks after the interview, Boyajian and McIntire spoke when Boyajian called the store again to follow up about her application. McIntire informed Boyajian that she had not yet contacted Boyajian's references. McIntire perceived Boyajian as "aggressive" and disrespectful during this conversation; Boyajian characterized the call as "very friendly." (Id. ¶ 9.)
During this period, McIntire was also informed by her store employees that Boyajian had visited the store and behaved disrespectfully toward them. Boyajian denies that these visits occurred and suggests that McIntire's testimony on this score lacks credibility.
In early-to-mid January 2006, McIntire informed Boyajian that she would not be hired. McIntire had concluded that she would not hire Boyajian because of her employees' account of Boyajian's post-interview behavior, as well as her concerns about the interview itself. However, McIntire told Boyajian that the decision not to hire her was solely due to Boyajian's limited availability.
At some point after this conversation,[2] McIntire recommended that Boyajian submit applications to a job