The employee was the director of an assisted living center and, when she was terminated, she attributed it to her age. She alleged, the decision stated, that the CEO said in meetings that the assisted living facility should:
be a "youth oriented company." He stated that "there was no room for dead wood," that Silver Oak was a "young company" that "enjoy[s] hiring energetic people," and that "if you can't keep up, you're going to get left behind." He also remarked that Silver Oak was "missing the boat by not hiring more younger, vibrant people because they would last longer and they would have more energy and be willing to work more hours," and that employees "should start looking over applications better and try to consider hiring younger people."
There were more similar statements alleged but you get the picture.
The point the court made, which is important, was that some of these statements were "open to interpretation." Specifically, a "'desire to rid the company of "dead wood' could be a legitimate preference to terminate unproductive workers regardless of age" but when uttered by the same manager who made other, overtly ageist statements, the court had to assume even the "open to interpretation" statements referred to an employee's age.
Of course, the court of appeals was deciding whether the age claim should be dismissed prior to a jury trial so it had to resolve any factual disputes in the employee's favor. For all we know the CEO will flatly deny making the ageist statements but would admit to saying the "dead wood" comment. Still, the point is that employers should be careful to never combine references to age (including relative age) with otherwise legitimate assessments of an employee's performance or the needs of the company.
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