Google’s vice-president of engineering, Wayne Rosing (aged 55), hired Brian Reid (52) as director of operations and director of engineering. At the time, the top executives at Google were CEO Eric Schmidt (47), vice-president of engineering operations UrsHölzle (38), and founders Sergey Brin (28) and Larry Page (29).

During his two years at Google, Reid’s only written performance review stated that he had consistently met expectations. The comments indicated that Reid had an extraordinarily broad range of knowledge, an aptitude and orientation towards operational and IT issues, an excellent attitude, and that he projected confidence when dealing with fast-changing situations, was very intelligent and creative, and was a terrific problem solver. The review also commented that “Adapting to Google culture is the primary task. Right or wrong, Google is simply different: Younger contributors, inexperienced first line managers, and the super-fast pace are just a few examples of the environment.”

According to Reid, even as he received a positive review, Hölzle and other employees made derogatory age-related remarks such as his ideas were “obsolete,” “ancient,” and “too old to matter,” that he was “slow,” “fuzzy,” “sluggish,” and “lethargic,” an “old man,” an “old guy,” and an “old fuddy-duddy,” and that he did not “display a sense of urgency” and “lacked energy.”

Nineteen months after Reid joined Google, he was fired. Google says it was because of his poor performance. Reid alleges he was told it was based on a lack of “cultural fit.”

Reid sued Google for age discrimination. The trial court granted Google’s motion for summary judgment on the grounds that Reid did not have sufficient evidence of discrimination. He appealed.

Questions:

1. Did Reid have enough evidence of age discrimination to warrant a trial? Should the summary judgment motion be granted?

2. Who is protected by the Age Discrimination in Employment Act (ADEA)?

3. What does the ADEA protect such individuals from?

4. If it turned out that a key reason Google fired Reid was because another individual could do his job for a lower salary, would this have strengthened Reid’s case?

5. The California Supreme Court overruled the trial court and summary judgment was denied. Does this mean that Reid has proved age discrimination?