The Characters....

• Andy Wilson, CPA, Fifth Year Associate at Yor
• Paul Bigote, Supervising Partner at Yor
• You, Managing Partner of Yor Accounting Firm

Andy was employed for approximately five years.He was given increasing amounts of responsibility at the firm.His yearly performance evaluations were quite impressive, scoring yearly between 8 and 10 (with 10 being the highest).Comments included "good worker, devoted to his profession." "Superior skills and good ability to communicate with clients." "Routinely exceeds expectations." For the past four years, the reviews were always written by Mr. Wilson's immediate supervisor.It was Mr. Barnegat for the last two years.Now, it is Mr. Bigote.Except for this last review, Mr. Wilson was repeatedly told that based on a canvassing of other partners and Andy's work performance, that he was "on track" to make partner.

The March performance evaluation this year showed a marked difference from earlier evaluations.Mr. Bigote noted thatMr. Wilson appeared to be disinterested in his work, that total time spent at work had slipped, that he appeared late to meetings and was somewhat disheveled and that he almost failed to meet an important IRS filing deadline for a client.Mr. Bigote advised Mr. Wilson that if things did not improve, he would be asked to leave the firm.Mr. Bigote noted no improvement in performance and in April of this year, Mr. Wilson was terminated.

Andy Claims:

• He had always been a stellar performer
• He "came out" to Bigote in a private meeting in January of this year
• After he "came out," he noticed a distinct "aloofness" and shunning by Bigote and others
• He had always come to work late and stayed late to avoid traffic; no one had ever complained
• He was fired because of his sexual orientation

Bigote Claims:

• He is new to the firm and had no experience with Andy's work ethic or lack thereof
• He knew nothing about Andy's sexual orientation...and could care less
• Andy's work was slipping even Andy's assistant says so
• Andy was coming in late and looking disheveled
• He can't take a chance when clients are at issue

Other Information:

Results of the Investigation by Outside Law Firm:

H. Louis Dewey, Esq.

• Your State's laws do not have a provision specifically prohibiting discrimination based on sexual orientation
• Another former employee may also claim discrimination based on sexual orientation
• Andy has AIDS
• Litigation will cost over $600,000.

Please answer the following:

1. In the above situation what legal standards can a court usein deciding the case? I need to write a paper and am not sure which standards to begin with.
2. What relevance does the 'other information' portion of the question hold in deciding the outcome? I would think that sexual orientation is relevant but having AIDs and litigation cost seems like useless information?
3. Can someone be fired for poor performance without being made aware by the company that they felt they quality of work has decreased in comparison to other years prior?