O&S and Gabel Law Firm Defeat Employer’s Motion for Summary Judgment In Age Discrimination Case; Case To Be Tried To A Federal Jury

On February 3, 2021, Judge William H. Orrick of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California denied defendant Zurich American Insurance Company’s Motion for Summary Judgment, clearing the way for the plaintiff, a former Zurich employee represented by O&S and Gabel Law Firm, to try his case to a jury.  According to the lawsuit, Zurich terminated the plaintiff, a 30-year employee with a long history of positive performance reviews, because of his age and only after the plaintiff’s new, younger manager used age-stereotyping language against him and came up with pretextual reasons to fire him.  In opposing Zurich’s motion, O&S and Gabel Law Firm successfully established that the plaintiff’s age discrimination claim should not be dismissed and instead resolved by a jury.  Trial is set for June 2021.  The case is Davis v. Zurich American Insurance Co., Case No. 3:19-cv-04397-WHO.  For the Bloomberg Law article discussing the case, see https://news.bloomberglaw.com/daily-labor-report/zurich-american-insurance-worker-gets-trial-on-age-bias-claims (subscription required).