Court Opinion

ID: 9481279
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-05 08:13:16.095906+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T17:48:11.566915
License: Public Domain

CUDAHY, Circuit Judge,
dissenting.
I join fully in Judge Flaum’s persuasive dissenting opinion. We should be exceedingly cautious in holding that the irascible temperament and apparently unwarranted demands for “loyalty” of a corporate executive may insulate his corporation against age discrimination charges otherise supported by probative circumstantial evidence 1 (and employee affidavits).
A mean personality should not provide an impregnable shield against claims that are objectively plausible. Apparently Packer would be easier to convict of age discrimination if he were a kindly and forgiving soul with a short memory.
I respectfully dissent.

. Incidentally, one may get into mixed motive analysis by presenting either direct or circumstantial evidence. Cf. Price Waterhouse v. Hopkins, 490 U.S. 228, 109 S.Ct. 1775, 1801-06, 104 L.Ed.2d 268 (1989) (O’Connor, J., concurring) (limiting plurality’s new burden-shifting rule in mixed motive context to situations in which plaintiff presents direct evidence of discrimination).