Scott Murphy was hired as a software engineer by Oberon Technology's Chief Computer Scientist Alicia Monroe. He was $46$ at the time he was hired. He worked for the company for five years and was terminated by Alicia for poor performance. Scott filed a claim for age discrimination. Which of the following defenses is most likely to be used by Alicia in this case?

Multiple Choice

The same$-$actor defense

The contributory negligence defense

The comparative fault defense

The assumption$-$of$-$risk defense