1. A 52-year-old male mid-level manager has been working for the company for 20 years.

In his
prior three (3) annual reviews he received an above average review and each year he has
received a 3% raise. His immediate supervisor has recently been replaced, and now he is being
asked to do additional tasks, and numerous responsibilities have been added to his workload by
the new supervisor. Other managers at his same level are not receiving these additional tasks
and responsibilities. In his last two (2) annual reviews he received poor scores and was then put
on probation. He was terminated yesterday.

Question 1 has a few dilemma’s that almost or could be violations of the law. Ultimately, the
company/manager that fired the man in this scenario did not break any laws.

The laws that were tip-toed around include Harassment and the Age Discrimination in
Employment Act (ADEA), but both would be hard to prove if the man that was fired wanted to contest
the manager and company in a courtroom. The man fits the protected age group in the ADEA case, but
we are not provided any evidence or information regarding the person that replaced the fired associate.
The other case of harassment involving the manager giving harder work to the man is hard to prove
because skill sets play a vital role in the workplace. The man in the scenario has been an employee for
over 20 years. Therefore, I would assume that he has a lot of experience and that means the manager
would rely on a man of his track record of continuous above average reviews. The man is at a
disadvantage because management recently changed and he may have received favorable reviews from
the previous boss. Also, the company has written documentation of poor performances in the past year.

I believe that the man has enough evidence to draw up a prima facie age discrimination document, but
once the employer denies the claim and provides the annual review, then the court will decide that the
manager acted responsibly and the company is not at fault.