Tuesday, June 12th, 2007...8:24 am
New Cert Grant: “Same Supervisor” Rule
The U S Supreme Court has granted cert in an ADEA case on the role of the “same supervisor” rule when the plaintiff alleges company-wide age discrimination, here, involving a reduction in force. The 10th Circuit held that the trial judge abused his discretion in barring evidence that other older employees who worked under different supervisors at the same plant suffered age discrimination. Mendelsohn v. Sprint, 466 F.3d 1223 (10th Cir. 2006). The appeals court held that the “same supervisor” rule makes sense when the plaintiff challenges discipline imposed by her or his particular supervisor, but not when the plaintiff challenges a plant-wide practice (here, a plant-wide RIF). The employer argued that the actions against other employees were irrelevant, or more prejudicial than probative (FRE 403).
HT: Paul Mollica at EEO Law Developments.
Update: The cert briefs are available here, via Ross Runkel.
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