Opinion ID: 2772155
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 5

Heading: Shelby Thompson

Text: In August, 2011, Thompson was sixty years old and an Aircraft Mechanic III in the “Back Shop” in Richmond, Kentucky. Lockheed decided to hire only Aircraft Mechanic III’s for its offices in Avon. Instead of applying for the Aircraft Mechanic II positions still available in Richmond, Thompson applied for the Aircraft Mechanic III position in Avon, where Evans served as the Lockheed hiring manager. Evans selected Thompson for an interview based on his skills assessment score. During the interview, Evans found that Thompson came across as disinterested and acted as if he should not have to sit for an interview. His conduct translated into a low score of six points out of a possible fifteen for his answers to the five interview questions. Thompson’s overall score for the skills assessment, workmanship, and interview responses was 85%. Evans did not hire anyone for the Aircraft Mechanic III position with a score lower than 90%. Of the twenty-one people hired to fill the Aircraft Mechanic III positions, one of the individuals, James Mosbey (sixty-four), was older than Thompson. The remaining twenty hires were more than six years younger than Thompson. No one at Lockheed ever made a statement to Thompson that made him think Lockheed was biased against older workers. -7-