Opinion ID: 200115
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: The Ferre-Mercado Conspiracy

Text: 22 Further, Gonzalez contends that since Ms. Ferre acknowledges that she contacted Mr. Mercado prior to June 12 in regard to the retirement plan, both should be considered El Dia decisionmakers, and that Ms. Ferre's remark on June 12 — viz., you are already 63 years old and your health is not good — accordingly constituted a discriminatory statement by a decisionmaker in the context of the adverse employment action taken against her by El Dia. The record on appeal does not square with her contention, however. 23 Instead, Ms. Ferre simply stated that she contacted the human resources department prior to June 12 regarding the retirement options available to Gonzalez. There is no record support whatever for the notion that Ms. Ferre stated that she had spoken with Mr. Mercado about the matter. Accordingly, no rational factfinder could construe Ms. Ferre's routine investigation into the retirement options available to Gonzalez as either (i) somehow sinister or (ii) a rational basis for surmising that Ms. Ferre played a meaningful role in Mr. Mercado's subsequent decisions to suspend and terminate Gonzalez.