Opinion ID: 4104203
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Cady’s Employment Problems with Remington

Text: Cady began working as an engineer in Remington’s Kentucky facility in 2012, where he was assigned to a team developing the R-51 handgun. The position required Cady to attend meetings, deal with suppliers, solve production problems, and ensure that the designers and technical staff worked together. From the outset, Cady clashed with team members. Cady described the environment as “hostile” and “unhealthy,” and said that he had a “degrading relationship” with his boss. Team members disliked working with Cady, too. One engineer found Cady to be “needlessly confrontational” and testified that the “stress of dealing with Mr. Cady was one factor in [his] departure from the company.” Another colleague recalled that the “team was very alienated” and that “they were not getting along well.” Yet another co-worker described Cady as “Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde,” alternatively “argumentative and confrontational” or “unconcerned” with the work. And although Cady’s performance-review rated him as a valued team member, it also noted that he “struggled with identifying his role within the team” and that his “response during points of contention bordered on personal confrontation.” Remington reassigned Cady in April 2013 following a meeting regarding the handgun project’s status. During that meeting, Cady disagreed with his supervisor, Mike Keeney, about -2- Case No. 16-5035 Robert Cady v. Remington Arms Co. whether to fully disclose that the R-51 prototype had failed during a test-shoot. Cady wanted to include the details of the failure in a presentation; Keeney instead “wanted to downplay” the failure because “[h]e was afraid that the program would get cancelled.” In addition, toward the end of the meeting, Keeney congratulated another employee on the employee’s appointment to a position that Cady wanted. The news angered Cady, and he threatened to resign. Remington’s Vice President, Scott Franz, spoke with Cady after the meeting, told him to calm down, and convinced him not to quit. Shortly thereafter, Remington transferred Cady out of the work group.