On Dec. 5, Gordon & Rees partner Hayes Ryan, assisted by associate Stephanie Jones of the Chicago office successfully obtained a summary judgment on behalf of their clients in a multi-count employment law claim. The United States District Court for the Eastern District of Missouri held that there was no genuine issue of material fact and granted judgment as a matter of law in favor of Gordon & Rees’s clients.
Gordon & Rees’s clients are an innovative foreign language immersion school and its principal. The plaintiff applied for a part-time teaching position while she was volunteering at the school. The plaintiff claimed that she was offered the job, but later the school rescinded her offer based on her age and national origin. In support of her claim, the plaintiff alleged that the principal told her directly that she was too old for the position and accused the principal of making discriminatory comments about her national origin. The plaintiff asserted claims for race discrimination, age discrimination, breach of contract, fraud, and unjust enrichment.
The defendant argued that the plaintiff was offered a position, but rejected it due to insufficient salary. Gordon & Rees successfully argued it was inconceivable that the principal, who was older than the plaintiff, and employed a faculty and staff almost entirely of the same national origin as the plaintiff, would discriminate against the plaintiff. In addition, Gordon & Rees argued the plaintiff could not substantiate any of her claims with concrete, admissible evidence.
The court agreed with the defendants and found the plaintiff’s uncorroborated claims insufficient to overcome summary judgment. The court granted the defendants’ motion and entered summary judgment on all counts of the plaintiff’s complaint.