Thomas H. Curran Associates is engaged in a wrongful termination action representing a formerly employed sales director for a food distributor in the northeast region. Summary judgment was denied in favor of Thomas H. Curran Associates as they established a prima facie case for age discrimination and had raised a genuine dispute of whether the reason for termination was pretextual.
As it has been rejected in Massachusetts courts, it was reaffirmed that the opposition’s argument claiming, “same actor inference,” was inappropriate at this stage. More importantly, other than disappointing sales, there had not been a legitimate nondiscriminatory reason for termination presented before the court.
Specifically, the demonstrable evidence offered by Thomas H. Curran Associates including the employee’s glowing performance reviews, the employee’s various responsibilities unrelated to the sales goals was enough to survive summary judgment. Additionally, there was sufficient evidence which a reasonable jury could conclude that the company denied the employee participation in the company’s health care and retirement plans due to the employee’s advanced age.
Thomas H. Curran Associates’s representation and advocacy in these age discrimination claims further solidified Massachusetts’ rejection of the “same actor interference” argument and created a pathway for an advanced aged wrongfully terminated employee to seek redress for damages.