the same job were not fired.
Defendants assert in their motion that Miller was terminated due to downsizing when RSSD reduced its number of field representatives and transferred many of the duties to the customer service department. Miller testified that he was told the reason for eliminating his position was that the company was downsizing at the direction of the parent company in Florida, RSI. Defendants have not submitted evidence of the reason for termination.[11]
Two months prior to Miller's termination, on November 2, 2002, Defendants hired Ms. Richards, born 1970. Two months after Miller was terminated, on March 18, 2003, Defendants hired Philip Tremblay, born 1980.
Benford testified that Miller's then supervisor, Cheryl Martello, made the decision to eliminate Miller's position. However, Benford also testified that Kalish made the decision.
MillerIn 2000 or 2001 Walker worked as the Commercial Front Loader PM Route Supervisor at the Sloan Transfer Station, until RSSD consolidated the AM and PM shifts, and Walker became the supervisor of the consolidated day shift.
In 2003, Walker told Director of Labor Relations Gerald Benford that he was going to retire. Walker told others he was leaving. Walker was approximately 62 years old. Walker believes that he was set up to fail because combining the AM and PM shifts required him to work 2 to 3 hours extra each day, increased his responsibilities, and caused a tenfold increase in customer complaints. Sean White, who covered for Walker when Walker was on vacation, believed that Walker was pushed out.
Defendant threw Walker a retirement party and Kalish gave him