Opinion ID: 6334233
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Prima Facie Showing of Age Discrimination

Text: The district court correctly determined that Plaintiff stated a prima facie case of age discrimination. (Order, R. 71, Page ID # 792.) To demonstrate a prima facie case of age discrimination, Plaintiff must show: “(1) he was at least 40 years old at the time of the alleged discrimination; (2) he was subjected to an adverse employment action; (3) he was otherwise qualified for the position; and (4) he was replaced by a younger worker.” George v. Youngstown State Univ., 966 F.3d 446, 464 (6th Cir. 2020). Courtney met this burden. First, Courtney demonstrated that he was 54 years old when WMT fired him, which placed him in a protected class based on his age. See 29 U.S.C. § 631. 10 No. 21-5683, Courtney v. Wright Med. Tech., Inc. Second, Courtney showed that WMT took an adverse employment action against him by terminating him in June of 2019. Next, the record clarifies that Courtney was qualified for his job given that he performed it without incident for eight years, and he either met or exceeded the expectations throughout his tenure. See supra p. 2. Indeed, Defendant agrees that Courtney’s termination was not based on performance or Courtney’s inability to perform the role for which he was hired. Finally, Courtney provided undisputed evidence that WMT replaced him with a substantially younger individual, namely, 42-year-old Scott Medley.