Sixth Circuit Clarifies Reduction in Force Standards

Today's decisions from the Sixth Circuit included a reduction in force age discrimination case, Harriet Schoonmaker v. Spartan Graphics Leasing, LLC, that helps to clarify the legal standards for RIFs and addresses other issues that commonly arise in RIF litigation.  The employer had between 50 and 75 employees and, as is not uncommon for employers of that size, did not have detailed RIF procedures.  When the employer decided to cut two employees because work was slow, they made a "consensus" decision to cut from the third shift because it was the least productive. One employee (not the plaintiff) was cut because she had been giving the job as a favor and was retiring soon. As to the 58 year old plaintiff, the employer chose a 29 year old because, as the decision says, plaintiff "was sometimes hard to work with" and the other employee was "the better team player." Both were equally qualified but the employer felt the other employee was "more productive" even though there were no work records to support this one way or the other.


Several parts of the decision are significant.  

• First, the court clarified that, in a RIF, the retaining a younger employee and laying off an older employee is not by itself enough to establish a prima facie case.  There had been some doubt about this because of loose language in a prior decision.
• Second, the court re-emphasized that an employee cannot show an employer's decision is discriminatory by arguing that she was more qualified or more productive than the employee retained.
• Third, the decision shows that minor discrepancies during a RIF do not necessarily amount to proof of discrimination.