Second Case
HRMG - 5700
Instructor: Sandy McDonough
Student: Karen Head
This was a case brought to action by Joanne Zippittelli against her employer, J.C. Penney Company. Her defense for creating case was that she was overlooked for the position in question due to her age. Zippittelli was one of four women who applied for the position with the company. All four women had the same job title and when they were interviewed by the Personnel Manager, he determined that there were three candidates including the plaintiff qualified for the position. Johnson then ranked the applicants, making the plaintiff his third choice (Twomey, pg. 537). After a consultation with Johnson’s supervisor, he hired his first choice, Patti Cruikshank. Zippittelli had a conversation with her supervisor, Anita Benko about how she was overlooked. Benko asked Zippittelli how old she was at which time Zippittelli responded she was 63. Benko made the statement that she would “probably not” get the position. After having this conversation with her supervisor Zippittelli was convinced her age was to blame for her lack of success within the company. Zippittelli filed a complaint with the EEOC and received a right-to-sue letter. The Age discrimination in Employment Act prohibits discrimination against any individual over the age of 40 with respect to “compensation, terms, conditions, or privileges of employment, because of an individual’s age (Twomey, pg. 538).
The plaintiff then had to prove her case by showing (1) she is within the protected age class, (2) that she was qualified for the position, (3) she was dismissed despite being qualified, (4) she was replace by a person sufficiently younger. Once this is determined, it now falls upon the defendant to produce the burden of proof that it had a legitimate, nondiscriminatory reason for the discharge (Twomey, pg. 538). In the end the court felt Zippittelli did not have sufficient evidence to support her claim of discrimination due to her age.
Case
Instructor: Sandy McDonough
Student: Karen Head
This was a case brought to action by Joanne Zippittelli against her employer, J.C. Penney Company. Her defense for creating case was that she was overlooked for the position in question due to her age. Zippittelli was one of four women who applied for the position with the company. All four women had the same job title and when they were interviewed by the Personnel Manager, he determined that there were three candidates including the plaintiff qualified for the position. Johnson then ranked the applicants, making the plaintiff his third choice (Twomey, pg. 537). After a consultation with Johnson’s supervisor, he hired his first choice, Patti Cruikshank. Zippittelli had a conversation with her supervisor, Anita Benko about how she was overlooked. Benko asked Zippittelli how old she was at which time Zippittelli responded she was 63. Benko made the statement that she would “probably not” get the position. After having this conversation with her supervisor Zippittelli was convinced her age was to blame for her lack of success within the company. Zippittelli filed a complaint with the EEOC and received a right-to-sue letter. The Age discrimination in Employment Act prohibits discrimination against any individual over the age of 40 with respect to “compensation, terms, conditions, or privileges of employment, because of an individual’s age (Twomey, pg. 538).
The plaintiff then had to prove her case by showing (1) she is within the protected age class, (2) that she was qualified for the position, (3) she was dismissed despite being qualified, (4) she was replace by a person sufficiently younger. Once this is determined, it now falls upon the defendant to produce the burden of proof that it had a legitimate, nondiscriminatory reason for the discharge (Twomey, pg. 538). In the end the court felt Zippittelli did not have sufficient evidence to support her claim of discrimination due to her age.
Case