Opinion ID: 757589
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Elimination of Ercegovich's Position

Text: 9 The ADEA prohibits employers from discriminating 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). Where the plaintiff fails to present direct evidence of discrimination, the courts analyze ADEA cases under the three-step McDonnell Douglas framework. See McDonnell Douglas Corp. v. Green, 411 U.S. 792, 93 S.Ct. 1817, 36 L.Ed.2d 668 (1973). Initially, the plaintiff must present evidence sufficient to establish a prima facie case of age discrimination. See Barnhart v. Pickrel, Schaeffer & Ebeling Co., 12 F.3d 1382, 1389 (6th Cir.1993). Once a plaintiff satisfies his or her prima facie burden, the burden of production shifts to the employer to articulate a legitimate nondiscriminatory reason for the adverse employment action. See id. If the employer meets this burden, the burden of production shifts back to the plaintiff to show that the employer's nondiscriminatory explanation is a mere pretext for intentional age discrimination. See id. 10 Where the employer eliminates an employee's position pursuant to a reduction in force or a reorganization, the employee establishes a prima facie case of age discrimination when he or she shows (1) that he or she was forty-years old or older at the time of his or her dismissal; (2) that he or she was qualified for the position; (3) that he or she was discharged; and (4) additional direct, circumstantial, or statistical evidence tending to indicate that the employer singled out the plaintiff for discharge for impermissible reasons. Barnes v. GenCorp Inc., 896 F.2d 1457, 1465 (6th Cir.1990), cert. denied, 498 U.S. 878, 111 S.Ct. 211, 112 L.Ed.2d 171 (1990). A plaintiff satisfies the fourth prong where he or she demonstrates that a comparable non-protected person was treated better. Mitchell v. Toledo Hosp., 964 F.2d 577, 582-83 (6th Cir.1992) (quotation omitted). The district court concluded that although Ercegovich met the first three elements of the prima facie case, he failed to present evidence sufficient to satisfy the fourth element because he did not identify one or more similarly-situated employees outside the protected class who received more favorable treatment, J.A. at 20 (Dist. Ct. Order at 6), a finding the parties vigorously dispute on appeal. Rather than address whether Ercegovich satisfied the fourth prong of the prima facie case, we will assume for purposes of this appeal regarding this claim that the plaintiff met his prima facie burden. We therefore focus our analysis on Goodyear's non-discriminatory explanation for the elimination of Ercegovich's position and the plaintiff's evidence of pretext. 11 Goodyear offered the following legitimate business reason for its decision to terminate Ercegovich: 12 Plaintiff's employment position was eliminated due to the fact that it was redundant with other positions at the Company and the Company's management wanted to distribute his quality assurance duties to the District Mangers in the Retail Sales Division throughout the country so that they would become more involved in the Company's quality program. 13 J.A. at 37 (Def.-Appellee's Mem. in Supp. of Def.'s Mot. for Summ. J. at 1). In seeking to show that this explanation is pretextual, Ercegovich argues that Goodyear has been inconsistent in explaining its decision and has offered three different reasons for the elimination of Ercegovich's position: (1) economics, (2) restructuring, and (3) redundancy. The district court properly found no inconsistency among these assertions because they all revolve around a single idea: Plaintiff's position could no longer be justified as being cost-effective. J.A. at 26 (Dist. Ct. Order at 12). The district court similarly rejected Ercegovich's argument that because he had not trained every district manager in the skills necessary for improving customer service, he remained valuable to the company, and thus that Goodyear's assertions to the contrary must be false. The district court properly rejected this argument, noting not only that district managers who had previously received quality assurance training could train the remaining district managers, but also that Goodyear's goal of broadening the responsibilities of its district managers and eliminating redundancy was served by redistributing Ercegovich's duties to district managers. J.A. at 26 (Dist. Ct. Order at 12); see also J.A. at 449 (Evert Dep. at 48 (The redundancy issue was there as well as turning over the responsibility for quality to the field organization and that they take complete ownership of it.)). Accordingly, we affirm the district court's conclusion that no genuine issue of material fact exists with respect to whether Goodyear's proffered explanation for its decision to eliminate Ercegovich's position is a mere pretext for intentional age discrimination. Summary judgment was properly granted to Goodyear on this claim.