Opinion ID: 566008
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 9

Heading: CIGNA Dental Health

Text: 46 Connecticut General offered a dental program, CIGNA dental health (CDH), which was sold by the Philadelphia office. There was testimony from Peter Neidlinger, vice-president of national accounts, that CDH was not a high priority for Billet and that Billet gave the impression that Philadelphia had better, more lucrative, sales to make than CDH. The Philadelphia office was identified in a memo from Neidlinger, dated July 8, 1988, as a problem office in the sale of CDH. In particular, the memo reflects Neidlinger's findings that there was no urgency by management to support/promoteroduct. Neidlinger testified that he did not feel that Billet really encouraged his sales staff to sell CDH, although he acknowledged that there was a bonus available for a sale of CDH. 10. Billet's Responses 47 Billet contends that the evidence he presented regarding his career and performance at Connecticut General, viewed in the light most favorable to him as the nonmoving party, was sufficient to create a jury question as to the validity of Connecticut General's articulated reasons for his termination and that the district court erred in granting the directed verdict motion. Billet's theory is that the proffered reasons for his termination focus on the five-month period between March and August 1988. He claims that Connecticut General rests its employment decisions on this short period, and that it is unreasonable for this court to believe that a 32-year employee, with an outstanding record, suddenly fell apart. Billet claims that the documented criticism of his performance during this period was not made in good faith and was designed for the sole purpose of creating a record to withstand an age discrimination case. 48 Billet contends that he submitted abundan[t] evidence to show that the criticism of [his] performance ... was spurious and [Connecticut General's] rationale for its treatment of him thus pretextual. According to Billet, Connecticut General's proffered reasons for his termination were virtually all ... based on events in 1988 which would not hold up to objective review. In essence, Billet urges that his explanation for the numerous events mentioned by Connecticut General for his termination cast doubt on its proffered reasons so as to preclude the grant of the directed verdict by the district court, particularly since Connecticut General's credibility was at issue. Billet specifically addresses each item described above. 49 Billet asserts that his prior record of good evaluations in Philadelphia supports the inference that the July 1988 interim evaluation was not worthy of credence. In general, Billet had received positive evaluations during his employment in the Philadelphia office. In particular, for the years 1983-88, Billet received the following overall scores on his yearly reviews: 1983--3 1984--1 1985--2 1986--4 1987--2 1988--4 50 In Billet's review for 1984, his first full year at the Philadelphia office, he received an overall rating of 1. The review sheet notes that in the sales production category, Billet achieved outstanding results, in a year of difficult personnel challenges and turnover. 51 For 1985, Billet received an overall score of 2. He received a 2 for the individual category of sales, in which his work was called excellent. The review stated that in the area of human resources management Billet [c]onsistently does a fine job of coaching and developing people ... to the extent that he now has probably the best crop of young sales people in the company. Bill is extremely conscientious about staff training and always has time for his people. 52 For 1986, Billet received an overall score of 4. The review indicates that this score was caused primarily by low scores in the area of sales and profitability. In the area of human resources management, Billet received a score of 3. The review notes that [o]verall, Bill did a good job of keeping his staff in a reasonably positive attitude in spite of very trying market conditions. The review further noted that [d]evelopment of sales staff was adequate but there are some question marks. The staff is not generally highly regarded by Underwriting, which will continue to be a restraint to future growth unless improvement is evident. This needs to be a high priority for Bill in 1987. 53 In his 1987 performance appraisal, Billet received an overall score of 2, the review calling his results in sales outstanding. Under the category of leadership it was noted that Billet did a good job of providing clear direction to his staff and developing very specific performance expectations, and also that he provided good development opportunities ... for his staff, and was personally involved in significant amounts of coaching activity. The major criticism of Billet's performance in this evaluation was in the human resources category where it was stated that Bill is not process oriented, however, and this has hurt his performance in some areas.... In particular, he needs to significantly improve his performance in the completion of performance appraisal documents. 54 Billet also asserts that at trial he challenged and undermined his superior Botta, showing that Botta's appraisal was subjective and came from a much younger, inexperienced person, who later vied with Billet for the position of city manager and received that position. According to Billet, a month or so before drafting Billet's appraisal, Botta told him he would be a logical candidate for the city manager position. Billet argues that the consideration of him for the city manager position undermines the reasons given for his being passed over for the position and subsequent termination. Billet urges that he would not even have been considered for the position if he were a forger who had been publicly intoxicated and insubordinate and whose relations with human resources were so bad. 55 Billet asserts that he impeached the factual bases given by Connecticut General for not making him city manager and for his termination. Accordingly, he at least demonstrated that there was a genuine issue of material fact on the pretext issue since the discrediting of Connecticut General's explanation was itself further evidence which could have persuaded a jury that unlawful discrimination occurred. He points to his outstanding 32-year career, including a high review just four months prior to his 1988 review, asserting he pok[ed] massive holes into Connecticut General's assessment of his performance thereby calling into question the veracity of its evaluation of him and impugning the proffered reason for his termination. This, in his view, could have led a jury to determine that the proffered reasons were pretextual. 56 Billet asserts that the probation for the alleged forgery of the automobile requisition form was a clearly pretextual excuse for his discharge. In support of this assertion, he claims that [t]here was no indication of, or reason for, an intent to deceive, a necessary element of the act of forgery, since the automobile requisition had been pre-approved by Botta, whose name Billet signed. According to Billet, the replacement had already been authorized and he was merely completing the paperwork in Botta's absence. Billet further proposes in support of this assertion that plaintiff's signing his own name right next to Botta's should have dispelled any notion of forgery, since forgers generally do not confess to their crime while [ ] committing it. Finally, Billet contends that for four months Connecticut General found nothing improper in his signing Botta's name. From this, Billet seeks to have us infer that casting blame on him for the forgery is an ad hoc attempt by Connecticut General to validate its otherwise unlawful discharge. 57 Similarly, Billet claims, the Riddle forgery is just as ridiculous. According to Billet, he never saw the fully executed supplemental agreement nor knew that the letters were sent or incorporated. According to Billet, the salesperson involved in this instance, David Johnson, was not reprimanded for his unauthorized supplementation of the agreement with Riddle, an act which cost Connecticut General hundreds of thousands of dollars. In Billet's view, this tends to prove that his reprimand for signing Wilkey's name is a pretext for the real reason for his termination--age. Billet urges that when it was found that he had signed Wilkey's name, he became branded a forger despite the fact others had signed Wilkey's name on other occasions. 58 Billet, while acknowledging that there was a Southbury incident, urges that the use of it as a reason for his termination was pretextual. According to Billet, it was unfair for him to have been placed on open-ended probation for this incident, as he was never asked for his version of what happened. Accordingly, a fair-minded jury could have concluded that this probation was harassment, imposed as a subterfuge for the real reason for his termination--his age. Billet also claims that he impeached Botta's version of this incident at trial. 59 Billet also addresses the specific complaints regarding his relationship with underwriting. He claims that he enjoyed a good relationship with that department throughout his career at Connecticut General and that there was no evidence or documentation, prior to his 1988 evaluation, criticizing his relationship with underwriting. Billet concedes that there was a fleeting reference in his 1986 performance evaluation as to how his staff was regarded by underwriting, but contends that any problem was corrected by the following year, when he received a good evaluation. Furthermore, Billet argues that the few instances regarding underwriting represent but a small handful of the total number of new cases sold each year and that the problems with these cases, e.g., Wilco, Riddle, generally resulted from a miscommunication between one of Billet's salespeople and the underwriter in question. The result was that the 1988 underwriting problems were greatly exaggerated and were attributed solely to Billet, never to underwriting, and only parenthetically to Billet's salespeople. 60 Specifically, as to the problems with underwriting concerning Wilco, Billet asserts that the agent, Paul Connolly, had been advised by underwriting to apply the correct rate. Furthermore, this information was in the system and available to the salespeople, and Billet had informed his sales staff of this fact. Billet argues that these circumstances tend to discredit this incident as a reason for his discharge. Billet also asserts that Connolly was not reprimanded for his error, a fact disputed by Connecticut General in that Connolly was denied compensation for the Wilco sale. 61 Billet claims that, since Connecticut General could find no cause to criticize his sales record in his 32 years with the company, it harps on his failure to do better in selling the CIGNA dental health program. According to Billet, this program is a hard sell in Philadelphia due to a lack of participating dentists. Furthermore, it was not the responsibility of his office to develop a network of participating dentists and there was testimony from his staff that Billet pushed hard to sell the dental program, including tying a bonus to its sale. 62 Billet dismisses his violation of the directive regarding the closing of the Harrisburg office, explaining that he owed Tatum early notice since she had worked for him for five years and because he would be out of town on the date scheduled to announce the closing. Furthermore, Billet regarded Botta as ultimately responsible for seeing that the procedures were followed in the closing, and Botta was at the same meeting on May 2 which Billet attended rather than being in Harrisburg, but was not criticized for any role in this incident. 63 Billet claims that the criticism of him regarding Deanna Clendennon was unfounded since the incident between them involved her concern with his management style. Billet testified that Clendennon and he cleared up any problems they had and remained friends even after he left Connecticut General and he points out that no mention of this incident was made in the July 1988 review in which he received his lowest score. 64 Billet further asserts that, beyond discrediting the proffered reasons for his termination, he introduced additional evidence that the decision to terminate him was motivated by age by pointing to (1) the more favorable treatment of younger employees; and (2) the effect, from an age standpoint, of the reorganization of the Philadelphia office. 65 As evidence of more favorable treatment of younger employees, Billet claims that, in the instances discussed above in which he was criticized or censured, younger employees were not similarly treated. Specifically, in the Wilco unauthorized quote situation, Paul Connolly was not criticized and in the Riddle case, Johnson was not criticized. In the instance involving the closing of the Harrisburg office, Botta was not blamed. All of these men were younger than Billet and he regards this as strong proof of age discrimination, because ... more favorable treatment for those not within the protected age group will support an inference of age discrimination. 66 Billet asserts that an analysis of the reorganization of the Philadelphia office from an age standpoint, could well lead a fair-minded jury to conclude that Connecticut General favored younger, less experienced managers over older, more experienced managers. In support of this statement, Billet states that prior to the reorganization, three of four supervisory individuals (Billet, Baker and Pfeiffer) were within the protected class of persons at least 40 years old. However, shortly after the reorganization, all were gone, Baker and Pfeiffer having resigned and Billet having been terminated, leaving younger and less experienced managers. 67 Finally, Billet asserts that the selection of Botta as city manager also shows pretext since Botta did not have a level of experience close to his or Baker's. According to Billet, Botta had one year's total exposure in selling group indemnity insurance when he was regional vice president, whereas Billet had 32 years' sales experience, 25 in management. Similarly, Baker had spent almost 30 years selling group indemnity insurance. Billet claims he also had more experience than Botta in pre-paid insurance, and that Baker had been selling pre-paid programs since February 1988. There was testimony that the position of city manager was, in essence, no different from that of sales manager prior to the reorganization. 11. Our Analysis of the Evidence 68 Considering all of the evidence and viewing it in the light most favorable to Billet, we find that he did not create a jury question on the issue of the bona fides of Connecticut General's articulated reasons for his termination to show them to be pretextual. Billet primarily disagreed with the objective evidence against him, e.g., his evaluation, misconduct probation, and relationship with underwriting, and argued that his performance was adequate. However, his view of his performance is not at issue; what matters is the perception of the decision maker. Smith v. Flax, 618 F.2d 1062, 1067 (4th Cir.1980). The fact that an employee disagrees with an employer's evaluation of him does not prove pretext. See McDonald v. Union Camp Corp., 898 F.2d 1155, 1160 (6th Cir.1990) (affirming a summary judgment for an employer in a state law age discrimination diversity case, following federal law, by reason of the plaintiff's failure to raise a genuine issue of material fact that the employer's reason to discharge him was pretextual when the plaintiff acknowledged that his supervisors were dissatisfied with his performance but argued that the employer made too big a deal of his alleged problems). 69 The burden was on Billet to provide some evidence to establish that the articulated reasons for Connecticut General's decision regarding his employment were pretextual. He was required to introduce evidence that casts doubt on his employer's contention that there was a legitimate business reason for [terminating him.] Healy, 860 F.2d at 1220. Barring discrimination, a company has the right to make business judgments on employee status, particularly when the decision involves subjective factors deemed essential to certain positions. Id. Billet did not provide enough evidence to create a jury question regarding Connecticut General's serious articulated concerns with his performance and continued qualification for his job. 70 There is no doubt that the events underlying the misconduct probations were real, although Billet may disagree with Connecticut General's right to take these incidents seriously. Even if signing his supervisor's name to the automobile requisition form was not forgery in the criminal sense, this incident cannot reasonably be dismissed as not warranting concern by Connecticut General. 71 Billet's claim that because Connecticut General did not reprimand him for the car requisition incident for four months shows that it fell back on this to create a record is simply unconvincing. In the context of a company as large as Connecticut General, the fact that it took four months is not surprising. It certainly does not support the inference which Billet urges--that Connecticut General fell back on his unauthorized signing of his superior's name as a pretext for firing him due to his age. 72 Similarly, although there may be some dispute as to the details of the Southbury incident, Billet admits that the meeting was interrupted. We reject Billet's assertion that Connecticut General's failure to seek his version of the incident undermines its reliance on it as a reason for his termination, because while the degree of his misconduct may be in doubt, he did cause a problem at Southbury. 73 There is no doubt that there were unauthorized quotes and changes to agreements involving Murray, Wilco and Riddle, serious matters indeed as they had negative financial impacts on Connecticut General. And despite his assertion that he had a good relationship with underwriting, Billet admitted that his office's relationship with underwriting was not always good. Furthermore, the Philadelphia office had a no-quote rate more than twice the recommended rate. We also point out that even if individual salespersons made mistakes, Billet supervised them and thus had some responsibility for the situations. This is the essence of supervision and we believe Connecticut General had the right to consider these unauthorized actions serious matters. 74 We also note that Billet is incorrect in alleging that the salesperson involved in the Riddle incident, Johnson, was not reprimanded. Johnson was put on probation because it was believed that he had signed Wilkey's name. Furthermore, the salesman in the Wilco matter, Paul Connolly, was denied compensation on the sale. Finally, despite Billet's claim that Botta was treated favorably, the record shows that Botta sought the regional vice-president position created pursuant to the reorganization, but did not receive it. There was testimony at trial that Billet's actions reflected negatively on Botta. Thus, Billet's claim that younger employees were treated preferentially is not well-founded. 75 Clearly, notwithstanding his explanation, Billet did not follow the designated procedure regarding the closing of the Harrisburg office. There is simply no doubt that he considered his own method of handling the matter better than that prescribed. But Connecticut General had every right to close the office its own way. Similarly, Billet's assertions regarding the complaints about him from Deanna Clendennon do not negate the fact that she complained to human resources about his treatment of her and that a memo regarding this was put in his file. Clendennon did not testify at trial in support of Billet's claims. 76 These undisputed facts and incidents were put forth by Connecticut General as reasons for the employment decision to terminate Billet. While Billet attempts to explain these incidents away, primarily by arguing that Connecticut General used these incidents to create a record to withstand an ADEA case, we do not understand why it is improper for an employer to maintain records regarding an employee's conduct even if it recognizes that the record may be useful in defense against a discrimination claim. Indeed, it would be expected that an employer would do exactly that. 77 Billet contends that his history of successful employment with Connecticut General reflected in his evaluations shows that the articulated reasons for his termination were pretextual. But Connecticut General never claimed that these evaluations were not accurate and the July 1988 evaluation clearly reflected a difference in performance. Furthermore, the events leading to his termination occurred after the evaluations. 78 We have stated that prior good evaluations alone cannot establish that later unsatisfactory evaluations are pretextual. See Turner v. Schering-Plough Corp., 901 F.2d 335, 343-44 (3d Cir.1990). To hold otherwise would be to hold that things never change, a proposition clearly without basis in reality. See Healy, 860 F.2d at 1215; Dorsch v. L.B. Foster Co., 782 F.2d 1421, 1424-25 (7th Cir.1986) (an employee may lack specific qualification to fulfill changing job description). 79 A decision affecting an employee in the protected class does not become a discriminatory decision merely because made in the context of a reorganization, or because a younger employee is benefitted by the decision. Rather, the inquiry is whether the decision was motivated by the affected employee's age. If the employer's decision was based on legitimate business concerns, i.e., choosing the person the employer believes is the best person for a job, the employee's disagreement with this decision does not prove pretext. Healy, 860 F.2d at 1220. 80 The July 1988 interim evaluation was made by a new supervisor, Botta, who obviously was not bound by any prior evaluations of Billet. In addition, Connecticut General was making far-reaching changes in its products line. Billet had always been an indemnity salesman. Connecticut General had every right to require its management to participate in and promote the new integrated product line. 81 We recognize that in its termination letter to Billet, Connecticut General stated his position was being eliminated due to its reorganization. But the undisputed fact is that the reorganization eliminated Billet's position and that three people--Billet, Baker and Botta--were considered for only two positions in the reorganized Philadelphia office. Overall, in light of the circumstance that there was problem after problem with Billet's performance, no reasonable jury could conclude that Connecticut General's articulated reasons for terminating Billet were pretextual. Healy, 860 F.2d at 1215-16 (although post hoc explanations made after the initiation of a lawsuit may be suspect, such do not ipso facto prove pretext; the plaintiff still has the burden to demonstrate that there is reason to disbelieve the explanation; without such evidence, there is no genuine issue of material fact). While Billet attempts to put the best possible face on the situation, there undoubtedly were many serious problems with his performance. 82 Furthermore, Billet was on notice of the problems he was having, specifically the underwriting difficulties, which had been noted in his 1986 review. See Healy, 860 F.2d at 1220 (in affirming a summary judgment for the employer, the court observed that the plaintiff knew prior to his discharge of the problems cited as reasons for the discharge). In Billet's case, the problems seemed to be getting worse, rather than being resolved. Compare Turner v. Schering-Plough Corp., 901 F.2d at 345-46 (the plaintiff's markedly improved performance during his last two years at the defendant company could have led a rational jury to conclude that the company's articulated reasons for his termination were pretextual). Although proof of any one of the many incidents involving Billet might not have been sufficient to sustain the directed verdict, cumulatively they combined to preclude the jury from finding pretext. 83 Billet's assertion that a review of the reorganization of the Philadelphia office from an age standpoint could have lead a jury to determine that Connecticut General was favoring younger, less experience managers, is not well-founded in either the nature of the reorganization or the actual facts. The reorganization of the Philadelphia office affected only, or at least principally, the positions held by Billet, Baker and Botta. The undisputed facts are that only Billet was actually terminated, since Botta became city manager and Baker received the sales director position, though he subsequently left Connecticut General of his own accord. In his new position, Baker again answered to Botta. The subsequent changes in the Philadelphia office show that Virginia Pfeiffer, age 43, whether she became a sales director or remained as an assistant, was over 40 years of age. She left the position of her own accord. Botta was beaten out for the position of East Coast regional vice president by El Kenyon, who was over 40. When Botta resigned the city manager position, he was replaced by Larry Savage, age 43. The evidence simply does not support Billet's assertion that the reorganization of the Philadelphia office reflects that younger employees were preferentially treated. In fact, Connecticut General presented evidence that the entire national two-year reorganization of the 32 sales/city manager positions resulted in the employment of 24 persons over age 40, including eight over age 50. 84 Similarly, Billet's claims regarding Botta being chosen as city manager over him cannot change our result in light of the problems Billet was having. Botta was 39 when he became city manager and he had 16 years sales experience in the health care industry. In his last position prior to joining Connecticut General, he had managed 30 to 35 people and ran an operation with over $500 million in revenue. 85 We are not unmindful of the particular nature of discrimination suits. Direct proof of age discrimination is often unavailable or difficult to find. Chipollini, 814 F.2d at 899 (citation omitted). As the Supreme Court explained, [t]here will seldom be 'eyewitness' testimony as to the employer's mental processes. United States Postal Service Board of Governors v. Aikens, 460 U.S. 711, 716, 103 S.Ct. 1478, 1482, 75 L.Ed.2d 403 (1983). We recognize that age discrimination, like other forms of discrimination, is often subtle. Chipollini, 814 F.2d at 899. However, we do not infer from the nature of discrimination suits that a jury determination is required in every case. 86 Billet relies on our decision in Chipollini, 814 F.2d 893, for his argument that summary disposition in this case was improper because issues of credibility were involved. In Chipollini, we reversed the district court's grant of summary judgment, explaining: 87 The proffered reason for discharge is a subjective one. The plaintiff challenges the defendant's post-litigation articulation of its intent and the documentary evidence can be viewed as supporting the plaintiff's challenge. Consequently, the issue of pretext turns on [the employer's] credibility and is not appropriate for resolution on a summary judgment motion. 88 Id. at 901. 89 However, an employer's articulated reasons are not incredible simply because the employee asserts that such is the case. We emphasize that despite the breadth of the language in Chipollini, discrimination cases are inherently fact-bound. Accordingly, Chipollini does not stand for the proposition that an age discrimination case can never be taken from the jury. Rather, Chipollini stands for the proposition that when a plaintiff proffers evidence of pretext sufficient to create a genuine issue of material fact as to the credibility of the employer's articulated business reasons for his or her termination, summary disposition is foreclosed. 90 A plaintiff has the burden of casting doubt on an employer's articulated reasons for an employment decision. Without some evidence to cast this doubt, this court will not interfere in an otherwise valid management decision. To require less would be to expose to litigation every management decision impacting on a protected party. See also Lucas v. Dover Corp., 857 F.2d at 1403-04 (a court will not second guess business decisions made by employers, in the absence of some evidence of impermissible motives); Jorgensen v. Modern Woodmen of America, 761 F.2d 502, 505 (8th Cir.1985) ([t]he ADEA is not intended to be used as a means of reviewing the propriety of a business decision on the part of [an employer]). 91 In this case, there was simply too much objective evidence of problems with Billet's performance to make his claim of pretext plausible, further distinguishing this case from Chipollini. Connecticut General presented substantial and objective evidence that it discharged Billet for legitimate business reasons. It identified numerous instances in which Billet either evaded or totally ignored company policies and procedures and cited fundamental problems between Billet and the underwriting department so drastic that it threatened the livelihood of the entire Philadelphia office. These problems were not altogether new in 1988, but were cited in a review two years prior to Billet's termination. In addition, Connecticut General offered evidence that the problems may have been getting worse, as evidenced by the fallout from the Wilco and Riddle transactions. Furthermore, it produced evidence showing that Billet was unreceptive to the changes being made in its product line and that a positive approach to these changes was considered a requisite qualification for continued employment. 92 We acknowledge that Billet had, up until his July 1988 interim evaluation, received reasonably favorable evaluations and had received awards and been promoted within Connecticut General. However, even these evaluations were not totally without criticism and we do not think that the difference in the tone of the evaluations alone casts legally sufficient doubt on Connecticut General's articulated reasons for Billet's termination. In sum, we do not find that Billet submitted sufficient evidence of inconsistencies or implausibilities in Connecticut General's proffered reasons for his termination to support an inference that Connecticut General did not act for legitimate reasons. 93 In the end, the evidence proffered by Billet demonstrates that he had at one time performed competently in his position. But we note that a consequence of a management reorganization such as at Connecticut General is that employees who might have continued on in other times become subject to termination. To sustain his burden as to pretext, Billet had to introduce evidence to cast doubt on Connecticut General's contention that there was a legitimate business reason for terminating him. We agree with the district court that Billet's efforts were insufficient to cast such doubt. 94 Our recent decision in Colgan v. Fisher Scientific Co., 935 F.2d 1407 (3d Cir.1991) (in banc) is not to the contrary. In Colgan, we reversed the district court's grant of summary judgment for the defendant-employer, Fisher, on the merits aspect of an ADEA claim as we found that the plaintiff-employee, Colgan, presented circumstantial evidence sufficient to raise a genuine issue of fact on the question of whether Fisher's negative evaluation of his performance, which formed the basis for his subsequent dismissal, was free from discriminatory animus. 95 In Colgan, we found particularly compelling the fact that the negative evaluation was given shortly after Colgan had refused to take early retirement and that this evaluation was aberrational as compared to earlier evaluations, a circumstance perhaps suggesting that Fisher was retaliating because Colgan declined early retirement. We also considered it noteworthy that this evaluation was the worst overall performance rating for any employee ever seen by the human resources manager and that, at the direction of upper management, it was made even less favorable than the original evaluation by his direct supervisor. At 1422. 96 In addition, Colgan presented affidavits from co-workers tending to support an inference of discrimination. These employees stated that Colgan was seeking to implement a newly introduced production schedule, thus raising a genuine issue of fact on this point, since Fisher had offered as a reason for Colgan's negative evaluation that he had refused to implement this schedule. At 1422. Finally, Colgan presented expert testimony that Fisher breached its standard procedures when it evaluated his performance, which testimony also supported a reasonable inference that the evaluation was a product of age discrimination. At 1422-23. 97 This case is not comparable. There is absolutely no evidence of retaliation by Connecticut General against Billet. Indeed, the exact opposite is true as demonstrated by the evidence that in both the automobile requisition and Southbury incidents, Parry used his influence to prevent Billet from being fired because he was so close to age 55, at which time his substantial retirement benefits would vest. 7 Furthermore, there is no evidence that Connecticut General deviated from its own procedures in terminating Billet, except to the extent that it could have terminated him sooner but instead kept him on for an additional several months to guarantee him greater retirement benefits. Finally, there is no evidence that the management reorganization, either nationally or in Philadelphia, was a ruse intended to cover the illegal termination of older employees, and Billet does not contend otherwise. 98 In addition, the incidents in which Billet was involved simply outweigh, quantitatively and qualitatively, the alleged problems which Colgan had at Fisher. While in Colgan, Fisher could point to some problems with Colgan's performance, the incidents involving Billet, articulated as reasons for his termination, present a virtual laundry list of misconduct, insubordination and disregard for Connecticut General policy. Try as he might to re-characterize these incidents in terms of illegal motive by Connecticut General, Billet cannot overcome the simple fact that he had some involvement in each cited incident. Nor has Billet submitted sufficient evidence to convince us that these incidents, particularly when viewed as a whole, would not be troublesome to any reasonable employer. 99 In Colgan, we were required to view the evidence in the light most favorable to Colgan as the nonmoving party. Doing so, we found that the district court had erred in granting Fisher summary judgment. Likewise, here we are required to take a favorable view of the evidence presented by Billet in reviewing the district court's grant of the directed verdict, but this is as far as the similarity goes.