California Supreme Court Agrees to Review Age Discrimination Case
The California Supreme Court announced today that it granted the petition for review filed by Google in that company's continued appeal of an age-discrimination action filed by one of its former employees.
Specifically, and as reported in a previous entry on this blog, the plaintiff in Reid v. Google, Inc. (who was 54 years old at the time of his termination) claimed he had been called “fuzzy,” “sluggish,” and “lethargic” at work, and that he had been told his ideas were "obsolete" and "too old to matter." After the trial court granted Google's summary judgment motion, plaintiff appealed the decision. The appellate court found that these comments were not, as a matter of law, "stray remarks," and that the plaintiff should consequently be allowed to pursue his claims (click here to review that decision). Google has now appealed from that ruling, seeking relief from the California Supreme Court, which has agreed to hear the matter.
We will continue to provide updates as this case makes its way through the Court. In the interim, please contact us directly to discuss any questions you may have relating to this matter.