Opinion ID: 2994879
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Wade’s Claims of Discrimination

Text: Under the ADEA The purpose of the ADEA is to promote employment of older persons based on their ability rather than age; to prohibit arbitrary age discrimination in employment; to help employers and workers find ways of meeting problems arising from the impact of age on employment. 29 U.S.C. sec. 621(b). Effectuating this purpose, the ADEA prohibits employers from discriminating against employees who are at least forty years old based on their age. 29 U.S.C. sec.sec. 623(a), 631(a). A plaintiff seeking relief under the ADEA must establish that he would not have been treated adversely by his employer ’but for’ the employer’s motive to discriminate against him because of his age. Baron, 195 F.3d at 338. An employer’s age discrimination may be proven by a showing of direct evidence of the employer’s motive to discriminate or through circumstantial evidence and the indirect burden-shifting framework set out in McDonnell Douglas Corp. v. Green, 411 U.S. 792, 802, 93 S. Ct. 1817, 36 L. Ed. 2d 668 (1973). See Baron, 195 F.3d at 338. Under the burden-shifting framework a plaintiff must first establish, by a preponderance of the evidence, a prima facie case of discrimination. See id. at 339. If a plaintiff is able to meet this initial burden, then the burden shifts to the defendant to provide evidence of a legitimate and non- discriminatory reason for the employment decision. Robin v. Espo Eng’g Corp., 200 F.3d 1081, 1088 (7th Cir. 2000). If the defendant provides such a reason, then the plaintiff must prove, by a preponderance of the evidence, that the defendant’s stated reason for the employment decision is merely a pretext for discrimination. See Jackson v. E.J. Brach Corp., 176 F.3d 971, 983 (7th Cir. 1999). In this case, Wade has presented no direct evidence of age discrimination on the part of Lerner in support of her claims that Lerner violated the ADEA. Wade must therefore use the McDonnell Douglas burden-shifting method to prove that Lerner discriminated against her because of her age.
Wade’s first claim on appeal asserts that the district court erred by granting summary judgment for Lerner on Wade’s discriminatory discipline claim. Wade argues that summary judgment should not have been granted on this claim because a genuine issue of fact exists as to whether Wade was disciplined because she arrived late to work and falsified her timecard or because of her age. To establish a prima facie case for her discriminatory discipline claim, Wade must show that: (1) she was a member of the protected class of persons forty or older; (2) she was performing her job satisfactorily; (3) she suffered an adverse employment action; and (4) substantially younger, similarly-situated employees were treated more favorably. See Debs v. Northeastern