Opinion ID: 4185676
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Failure to Rehire in 2014

Text: In July 2014, Baines applied for a pharmacy technician position with Walgreens in Wauwatosa, Wisconsin. The Wauwatosa store was looking for pharmacy technicians, and pharmacy supervisor Hannah Ruehs managed the hiring process. Ruehs was generally permitted to hire candidates for these jobs at her sole discretion. Baines called and discussed the pharmacy technician opening with Ruehs by telephone on July 23, 2014. Ruehs said that she would review Baines’ application and contact her if she had done sufficiently well on her assessment test. Ruehs called her back, and Baines interviewed with Ruehs and another Walgreens employee the next day. The day after that, July 25, Ruehs left Baines a voicemail saying that she had selected someone else for the position. It is not clear whether Ruehs had more than one pharmacy technician position to fill, but several days after telling Baines that the position was filled, Ruehs interviewed and hired Lisa Martin as a pharmacy technician. Martin had less experience than Baines at that time—in fact, Baines was the only applicant who had prior experience working as a Walgreens pharmacy technician. Also, as it turns out, Martin is Baines’ cousin. After Martin was hired, she worked at Walgreens for approximately thirteen months under the supervision of Ruehs. Martin testified in her deposition that Ruehs told her in February 2015 that she did not hire Baines because district manager Michelle Birch had intervened. Martin testified that Ruehs said she had wanted to hire someone named “Regina” around the time that Martin was hired. Plaintiff Baines was the only person named Regina who applied to the Wauwatosa No. 16-3335 5 Walgreens for a pharmacy technician position at that time. According to Martin, Ruehs said that she “really liked” Regina and she “really wanted to hire her.” However, Ruehs told Martin: “You didn’t hear this from me, but I was told from higher up, Ms. Birch, that I could not hire her.” Ruehs said she did not know why Birch forbade her from hiring Baines.