On Monday, AT&T Mobility Services LLC appealed a post-trial judgment to the Third Circuit in an Age Discrimination in Employment Act (ADEA) case. The notice said that the cellular network provider would also be appealing the court’s summary judgment ruling and its rejection of AT&T’s two post-trial motions.
The case dates back to 2018 when the plaintiff filed the lawsuit in Philadelphia. Despite her excellent 23-year record with AT&T as its Director of Sales, the plaintiff was fired at 49 as a result of the company-wide “Workforce 2020” plan to reduce what it viewed as an aging workforce, the complaint said.
The court denied AT&T’s motion for summary judgment in January 2020 before the case proceeded to a four-day trial. In December, Magistrate Judge Timothy R. Rice issued an order on damages, as the parties agreed that the jury would decide liability and the bench would decide the former.
The court awarded the plaintiff $2.3 million including back and front pay and liquidated damages. Thereafter, AT&T moved for judgment as a matter of law and in the alternative, a new trial.
On February 22, Judge Rice rejected AT&T’s arguments, noting that trials unavoidably involve close calls. “Since the trial featured no legal error, AT&T now resorts to disputing evidentiary inferences and credibility determinations that informed the jury’s verdict, along with challenging five discretionary evidentiary rulings. Its motion is meritless,” the court concluded.
In so finding, Judge Rice said that there was ample evidence for the jury to have reasonably found that AT&T acted knowingly or with reckless disregard in violating the ADEA. Too, the court declined to find that attorneys for the plaintiff committed improper personal attacks and challenged opposing counsel’s integrity. “The trial was expertly handled by capable counsel for both parties,” the opinion said.
The plaintiff is represented by Console Mattiacci Law LLC and AT&T by Paul Hastings LLP and Genova Burns LLC.
