Facts

Rustico Siazon sued The Hertz Corp. in relation to its termination of his employment.

PLAINTIFF'S CONTENTIONS: Siazon alleged he was wrongfully terminated due to age discrimination and in retaliation for complaints he made about the abusive conduct of his supervisors. Siazon claimed the multiple warnings he received for alleged poor job performance were given as part of a plan to terminate him, and the warnings constituted intimidation and harassment against him by his supervisors. Siazon also alleged he was not rehired after his termination because of three complaints he lodged through defendant's hotline, and he was replaced by a younger employee. Siazon further claimed defendant defamed him by making false statements concerning him and his employment.

DEFENDANT'S CONTENTIONS: Defendant contended Siazon was not performing competently at work, evidenced by the many warnings about his performance he received, and there was no discriminatory motive underlying his termination. Further, defendant alleged no false, defamatory statements were made regarding Siazon.

Result

The court granted defendant's motion for summary judgment on all of Siazon's causes of action. The court found substantial problems with Siazon's performance at work, although it assumed he offered sufficient evidence to support a prima facie case of competent performance. The court then examined discriminatory motive, and found no discriminatory motive was either explicit or implicit in any evidence presented by Siazon in support of his age discrimination claim. Additionally, the court found Sizaon's Fair Employment and Housing Act claim failed because he did not show that his complaints about his supervisors' warnings classified as protected conduct, as they lacked allegations of discrimination on a prohibited basis. The court held Siazon's defamation claim also failed because statements he alleged to be defamatory were subject to the common interest privilege because they were made internally and concerned Siazon's job performance.