Opinion ID: 624275
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: James Gibson

Text: James initially worked at AGC as a Power Truck Operator in Returned Goods. From August 1990 through October 2005, James received performance reviews that were commendable, exceeding expectations, or distinguished, and had a clean record with the exception of two informatives, [3] and two written warnings. James denies the validity of those disciplinary actions. In February 2006, James began receiving a series of verbal and written warnings which culminated in his termination. On February 21, 2006, management verbally reprimanded James for failing to adhere to the call-in policy, which required employees to report an absence at least thirty minutes before a scheduled shift. Although James admits these events occurred, he denies the validity of the warning, and claims he had provided a written doctor's excuse. On June 29, 2006, James again violated the thirty-minute call-in policy and received the next level of discipline, an informative. James similarly denies the validity of this informative, and again claims he had provided a written doctor's excuse. On November 21, 2006, and December 19, 2006, James received his first and second written warning, respectively, for again failing to follow the thirty-minute call-in policy. James admits receiving the written warnings, but currently denies their validity. On March 9, 2007, James received an informative for safety violations after he was observed operating his power truck in an unsafe manner. James denied he was driving in an unsafe manner in writing on the informative, claiming [t]he person accusing me would be wrong. J.A. at 122. James received his third written warning on September 19, 2007, for safety violations, when a load of stock fell off the power truck he was operating, nearly striking another employee. As a result, James was relieved of his power truck operator job and placed elsewhere within the facility. He was replaced by Earnest Tunstall, a sixty-three year-old African-American male. James denies the factual allegations underlying the third warning, and states the allegations were used as a pretext to relieve him of his power truck operator job. On November 1, 2007, James received his fourth written warning after he failed to follow the thirty-minute call-in policy. James again denies the validity of this warning. On December 7, 2007, James submitted a dispute through Solutions, alleging he was subjected to discrimination on the basis of his race and age, and that he had been retaliated against because his wife, Lena, had filed a Solutions claim. James's fifth and final written warning arose because he allegedly failed to meet uniform time standard for the four-week period beginning January 6, 2008, through January 27, 2008. According to AGC, as of January 2008, all employees were required to meet or exceed a 90% efficiency rating, irrespective of race or age. James denies this standard was applied uniformly. In addition, James claims he worked in a group which made it impossible to determine his individual standard because of the group performance, and asserts this false accusation was used as a pretext for his discharge. As a result of this final warning, on February 19, 2008, AGC informed James he was being terminated under AGC's progressive discipline policy. [4] AGC presented evidence it replaced James with a fifty-six year-old African-American male.