Takeaway: Employers should investigate complaints thoroughly and in accordance with company policy, regardless of this decision holding that errors, on their own, do not support a finding of pretext. In separate litigation, a different court could rule against an employer that did not conduct a thorough investigation.
The 10th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals recently held that an employer's flawed investigation alone did not establish pretext for unlawful age discrimination.
The plaintiff worked as vice president and managing director of private wealth management at a financial services company in Denver, managing a team of wealth managers and private bankers. The plaintiff violated the company's policy by giving an employee a personal loan and commission credits for sales in which he did not participate.
The plaintiff also prevented another employee from moving a transaction to help meet sales goals, which would have been "sandbagging" and would have violated company policy. The employee who the plaintiff stopped from sandbagging then complained about the plaintiff's violations of company policy.
The company launched an internal investigation and interviewed 11 people. The internal investigator concluded that the allegations against the plaintiff were substantiated. A separate misconduct disciplinary committee voted to terminate the plaintiff's employment. The disciplinary committee members were not acquainted with the plaintiff and did not know his age.
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