Court Opinion

ID: 9474859
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-05 05:11:05.798647+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T17:44:22.911807
License: Public Domain

KEITH, Circuit Judge,
dissenting.
The majority correctly notes the applicable standard for reversal; the judgment below can be reversed only if, after viewing all of the evidence and drawing all reasonable inferences in favor of the plaintiff, this court concludes that the evidence “points so strongly in favor of the movant that reasonable minds could not come to a different conclusion.” Morelock v. NCR Corp., 586 F.2d 1096, 1104-05 (6th Cir.1978), cert. denied, 441 U.S. 906, 99 S.Ct. 1995, 60 L.Ed.2d 375 (1979). The majority supports its decision based mainly upon the statistical evidence introduced by Dr. John Burke, indicating no age discrimination. The jury had ample opportunity to consider Dr. Burke’s evidence in the instant case. I find no reason to second guess the jury.
Significantly, plaintiff was evaluated by Ed Kenney when plaintiff was Southern Region Security Manager and Neil Gray, when plaintiff was Director of Security; both gave plaintiff excellent ratings. Furthermore, plaintiff was never asked to interview for the new position of Director of Crime and Loss Prevention, and he was never asked to submit a resume for the position. Accordingly, the evidence indicates that “reasonable minds” could find for the plaintiff.
This court in Blackwell v. Sun Electric, 696 F.2d 1176 (6th Cir.1983) held that an ADEA claimant can prevail if he shows that the factor of age made a difference in determining a hiring decision. The court implicitly rejected a more restrictive “but for" test for ADEA claimants. In light of this test, the jury had sufficient evidence to find for the plaintiff. Accordingly, I would affirm.