Takeaway: Employers should ensure careful consideration of protected characteristics such as age in selecting employees for group terminations and reductions in force.

The 10th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals affirmed a district court’s decision finding that workers impacted by a 2013 Spirit AeroSystems Inc. reduction in force (RIF) totaling 271 firings did not show that the RIF was evidence of a pattern or practice of group age discrimination by Spirit.

The former Spirit employees relied on documentary evidence and testimony in efforts to meet their burden to show that unlawful age discrimination was Spirit’s standard operating procedure through its actions and an alleged desire to axe its older workers in favor of younger employees. In support of their claims, the workers relied on Spirit presentation slides addressing tenure and health care costs, planning documents and policies, statements by Spirit executives and employees, and training materials.

While the court agreed that some of the evidence might support a finding of age discrimination by individual Spirit managers and executives, it ruled that the evidence did not create a reasonable inference of a “standard operating procedure to shed older employees.”

The court did warn that alleged statements that HR pressured managers to give poor ratings to older workers and Spirit lowering ratings for some older employees “could suggest discrimination against some employees,” but not a standard operating procedure.

The...

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