Opinion ID: 2998119
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Isbell’s ADEA discrimination claim.

Text: Pursuant to the ADEA, it is unlawful for an employer “to fail or refuse to hire or to discharge any individual or otherwise discriminate against any individual with respect to his compensation, terms, conditions, or privileges of employment, because of such individual’s age.” 29 U.S.C. § 623(a)(1). Like other similar claims, a plaintiff raising a claim of age discrimination may proceed by either the direct or indirect method. Rhodes v. Ill. Dept. of Transp., 359 F.3d 498, 504 (7th Cir. 2004); Balderston v. Fairbanks Morse Engine Div. of Coltec Indus., 328 F.3d 309, 321 (7th Cir. 2003). Isbell has chosen the direct method. A plaintiff utilizing the direct method may rely on either direct or circumstantial evidence. Rhodes, 359 F.3d at 504. As this court has noted, direct evidence of age discrimination (or any other form of discrimination for that matter) essentially requires an admission by an employer or some sort of “smoking gun” that points to discrimination. Jordan, 396 F.3d at 832; Chiaramonte v. Fashion Bed Group, Inc., 129 F.3d 391, 397 (7th Cir. 1997). There was no such admission or smoking gun here. Circumstantial evidence under the direct method is sufficient to show discriminatory intent only where the plaintiff can “construct[ ] a ‘convincing mosaic’ of circumstantial evidence that ‘allows a jury to infer intentional discrimination by the decision-maker.’ ” Rhodes, 359 F.3d at 504 (quoting Troupe v. May Dept. Stores Co., 20 F.3d 734, 737 (7th Cir. 1994)). The evidence must, however, “point directly to a discriminatory reason for the employer’s action.” Id. Nos. 04-2310 & 04-2365 9 (quoting Adams v. Wal-Mart Stores, Inc., 324 F.3d 935, 939 (7th Cir. 2003)). Isbell presents evidence from a series of studies conducted by Allstate, or on its behalf by consultants, that Isbell claims show that the Company believed younger agents performed better than older agents. The first study cited by Isbell was conducted by the Company in mid-1996, three and one-half years prior to the revamping of Allstate’s workforce. The 2 results of that study were compiled in a Powerpoint presentation and shared with the Allstate’s then-Chairman/CEO and its COO. The primary focus of the study and the ultimate conclusion appears to be that independent contractors outperformed employee agents; a conclusion that appears to foreshadow Allstate’s ultimate decision to eliminate the employee-agent position and move to an allindependent contractor model of business. The presentation did note, however, some information concerning the age of agents which Isbell considers evidence of an intent to discriminate. The study showed the distribution of agents by tenure and average age and also noted that over 15% of the Company’s agent force could retire in the next fifteen years. The study also suggested that “[t]here is a potential generational mismatch between our agents and the new customers we seek.” It noted that “[p]roductivity declines slightly by the age of the agent.” The study also found, however, that “[p]roduction by agent type remains constant, no matter what the agent age cohort.” In other 2 Powerpoint is a computer program that allows for the construction of “slide shows,” often using graphics and other devices (tables, charts, etc.) to present a report in summary fashion. The slide shows can be printed out and distributed on paper, displayed on a computer, or projected onto a screen (as in a board meeting). 10 Nos. 04-2310 & 04-2365 words, independent contractors had approximately the same production level regardless of the age grouping—thirty to thirty-nine-year-old independent contractors had the same production level as forty-five to forty-nine year-old independent contractors and likewise for employee 3 agents. The second study relied on by Isbell was a study, known as the Sale Organization of the Future (the “SOOF”), prepared for the Company in 1997 by an outside consultant. The SOOF study was much more concerned with the age of the Company’s employee agents than the 1996 study. The SOOF included a presentation of agent demographics that highlighted the age distribution of the Company’s agents and explored the options for eliminating the employeeagent role in the agent workforce. Isbell also cites a 1999 study conducted by Allstate that studied the relationship between age and productivity. Although Isbell reports that the study showed that agents in younger age groups produced “slightly more new busi- 3 Without too much analysis (we are not privy to the underlying data that went into these studies), this would suggest a fairly innocuous reason for the statement that production for agents declined slightly by the age of an agent. The independent contractors outperformed their employee-agent counterparts and the independent contractor program was concentrated amongst the relatively younger employees (the program was relatively new in 1996). Thus, the decline in production numbers for all agents as they aged could be attributable to the concentration of the better performing agent types in the younger age groups. Thus, while a forty-nine year-old agent, on average, could be expected to perform as well as a thirty-year-old agent of the same type, there were more agents from the poorer performing agent types in the higher age brackets than there were better performing agent types. Nos. 04-2310 & 04-2365 11 ness,” Isbell failed to note the heading to that page of the study—“[o]verall, there is a weak relationship between age and production.” (Emphasis added.) Isbell also failed to note that the study concluded that “focusing only on ‘high potential’ hires, there is little relationship between age and production.” Finally, Isbell failed to cite a conclusion of the study “age should not play a role in recruiting or hiring decisions.” Taken together, this evidence does not provide a “convincing mosaic” from which a jury could infer discriminatory intent on the part of Allstate. As the district court pointed out, there was no evidence that the studies were used by the decisionmakers involved in the decision to eliminate the employee-agent program. Fuka v. Thomson Consumer Elecs., 82 F.3d 1397, 1403-04 (7th Cir. 1996). Isbell’s claim that Allstate discriminated against older workers when it eliminated the employee-agent position has no merit. She seeks to magnify the age issue by focusing only on one job category without recognizing the entirety of Allstate’s restructuring effort—eliminating an employment position and offering those affected another position with the Company. As a consequence, every employee in that 4 position lost his job, regardless of age. That was not the sum of Allstate’s restructuring program, however. Each and 4 This is also the reason Isbell cannot succeed in showing discrimination via the indirect McDonnell Douglas method. That method requires Isbell to show (among other things) that similarly situated persons under forty were treated better than she was. That is not possible here. Every person similarly situated to Isbell, over forty or under forty, was treated precisely the same way—their position with the Company was terminated and they were offered a choice of options including a new position with Allstate. 12 Nos. 04-2310 & 04-2365 every one of the employee agents, regardless of age, was offered a new opportunity with the Company. Allstate was entitled to summary judgment on Isbell’s claim of age discrimination.