DeCecco v. UPMC (Summary)

DISCRIMINATION

DeCecco v. UPMC, No. 12-272 (W.D. Pa. Mar. 7, 2014)

The United States District Court for the Western District of Pennsylvania granted in part and denied in part a health care provider’s motions for summary judgment with respect to a 59-year-old former employee’s claims of retaliation and age discrimination, finding that there remained genuine issues of material fact over the real reason the employee was fired.

The employee was fired after 41 years of working for the health care provider, during which time she consistently received good performance evaluations. She alleged that the health care provider fired her due to her age, violating the ADEA. The health care provider claimed that it has a legitimate nondiscriminatory reason – as required by the ADEA – for firing the employee, because the employee made “grievous and egregious errors” in responding to a Department of Health investigation, endangering the health care provider of losing its Medicare funding, and in turn, causing a lack of faith in the employee’s abilities. The court found that the health care provider had introduced a legitimate nondiscriminatory reason for firing the employee. However, the employee had presented sufficient evidence to establish that a genuine issue of material fact existed with regard to the actual reason why she was fired.

Finally, the court found that there was insufficient evidence to support the employee’s retaliation claim because she signed the separation agreement and received a severance benefit, reasoning that the employee was not denied anything she was owed.