Simmons v. Sykes Enterprises Inc., No. 09-1558 (10th Cir. 2011)
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Plaintiff-Appellant Patricia Simmons appealed the district court's grant of summary judgment to her former employer, Defendant-Appellee Sykes Enterprises, Incorporated. Ms. Simmons claimed Sykes terminated her on the basis of her age, in violation of the Age Discrimination in Employment Act (ADEA), 29 U.S.C. 621. The district court concluded that Ms. Simmons failed to establish that Sykes' reason for terminating her was pretextual, and dismissed her case. In early 2007, Ms. Simmons claimed that the workplace environment got decidedly hostile towards her. Later that year, an aggrieved employee complained to Sykes management that someone within the company had improperly disclosed the employee's confidential medical information. Ms. Simmons was implicated as the source of the confidential information. After her termination, Ms. Simmons filed a complaint with the EEOC, which in turn, resulted in a formal complaint before the district court. The Tenth Circuit found that the undisputed facts in this case permitted only one inference: "absent the alleged discriminatory bias, Sykes would still have fired Ms. Simmons because from Sykes' perspective, she violated company policy and could not be trusted with confidential information." Accordingly, the Court affirmed the district court's order granting summary judgment to Sykes Enterprises.
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