This week, the U.S. Supreme Court rejected a petition requesting review of a Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals (which includes North Carolina, South Carolina, and Virginia) decision that set a low bar for plaintiffs to plead allegations of age discrimination. The case, Intelligent Waves LLC v. Lattinville-Pace, involved a human resources manager who alleged that she was terminated a year after her hire based on her age. As support for this claim, she alleged that she had been replaced by a younger worker who was also in the over-40 protected category.
The district court dismissed the complaint on the basis that the plaintiff failed to plead that but for her age she would not have been fired. In other words, the trial court concluded that the mere fact that an employee is replaced by a younger worker is not sufficient to pursue an age discrimination claim absent allegations that age was the motivating factor behind the decision. The Fourth Circuit disagreed, deciding that the plaintiff’s allegations that she had received positive reviews during her year of employment, was not given a clear reason for termination, and had been replaced by a younger worker were sufficient to state a prima facie case of age bias.
The employer appealed this decision to the Supreme Court on the basis that the legal standard set by the Fourth Circuit was inconsistent with precedent regarding the need to allege age as the basis for the termination decision. In rejecting this petition, the Supreme Court did not comment on its reasoning. This decision means that for now, plaintiffs pursuing age claims in the Fourth Circuit have a low burden to avoid a motion to dismiss their claims. Replacement by a younger worker combined with unclear reasons for the decision will be sufficient to allow the claim to advance. Moreover, the Fourth Circuit opinion also ignored the employer’s argument that a termination decision by the same executives who hired the plaintiff one year earlier demonstrated that age was not the motivating factor behind the decision.
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