Opinion ID: 1383505
Heading Depth: 5
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Tsolis's Age-Related Slurs

Text: Blair also contends that Tsolis's numerous and frequent age-related slurs qualify as direct evidence of discrimination. Specifically, Blair points to Tsolis's referring to Blair as the old man on the sales force, and Tsolis's mocking question regarding whether the old guy can make it up the stairs. Like Tsolis's statement regarding Blair's suitability for the Ford account, these statements are admissible because they are not offered to prove that Blair was old or that he had difficulty ascending stairs. Instead, these statements are offered for the fact that Tsolis made them. Having concluded that these derogatory comments are admissible, we next consider whether they constitute direct evidence of age discrimination. In Rowan, we held that when managers make age-biased statements outside the context of the decision to discharge the plaintiff, the statements are not direct evidence of age discrimination. Rowan, 360 F.3d at 550. We explained, Since the plaintiffs do not allege that they were made in relation to the decision to discharge the plaintiffs as part of the reduction in force, an inference is required that [age] bias may have played a role in the decision to select these plaintiffs. Id. This analysis comports with the definition of direct evidence. It is also consistent with our opinions requiring some degree of connection between the comments and the relevant decision if the comments are to be considered even as circumstantial evidence of discrimination. See, e.g., Smith v. Leggett Wire Co., 220 F.3d 752, 759 (6th Cir.2000) (statements by non-decision makers insufficient to establish pretext as circumstantial evidence); Bush v. Dictaphone Corp., 161 F.3d 363, 369 (6th Cir.1998) (same); Ercegovich v. Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co., 154 F.3d 344, 355 (6th Cir. 1998) (noting that isolated and ambiguous comments are too abstract to be considered as circumstantial evidence of discrimination in pretext analysis). We note, however, that there exists some tension in the law of this circuit. In Talley v. Bravo Pitino Restaurant, Ltd., 61 F.3d 1241 (6th Cir.1995), we held that racist comments by the plaintiff's managers constitute[d] direct evidence that plaintiff's termination may have been racially motivated, notwithstanding that the comments were temporally removed from the termination decision and did not address the plaintiff in particular. Id. at 1249. Similarly, in DiCarlo, a supervisor told an Italian-American employee that there were too many dirty wops working at the facility; about two weeks later, the supervisor terminated the employee. DiCarlo, 358 F.3d at 412-13. Because the slurs were uttered by an individual with decision-making authority regarding the plaintiff's job, we held that these statements were direct evidence of national-origin discrimination. Id. at 416. As an initial matter, we observe that this court decided both Talley and DiCarlo before Rowan and that [r]eported panel opinions are binding on subsequent panels. 6 Cir. R. 206(c); United States v. Abboud, 438 F.3d 554, 567 (6th Cir. 2006) (when two cases reach irreconcilable conclusions, the earlier-decided case controls). [8] Further, we see no principled reason for concluding that race-based and national-origin-based slurs are such over-powering evidence of discrimination that no inference is necessary to connect the expressed discriminatory animus to the adverse employment action, but mocking an older employee's age is not. Although Rowan did not discuss Talley or DiCarlo, we remain open to the possibility but do not determine that Rowan can be distinguished from these earlier cases. We need not resolve this conundrum here. As shown below, even if we apply the circumstantial-evidence test, it is clear that Henry Filters was not entitled to summary judgment. [9]