in 1977 and became a regular employee in 1980. Jackson worked as a Residential Route Supervisor at the Sloan Transfer Station when that station was opened in approximately 2000.
Bruce San Fillipo, Sloan General Manager born 1951, testified that Jackson would allow drivers that finished their routes before the end of their shift to meet in a central place and hide out, rather than assigning them to help a driver that was going to incur overtime. San Fillipo stated that he told Jackson several times to stop that practice, but that Jackson ignored his direct order. San Fillipo, therefore, decided to terminate Jackson's employment allegedly based upon his inability to conform to San Fillipo's directions. Jackson was terminated on February 14, 2003, and he was provided with six-months severancepay. He was 59 years old at the time.
Jackson testified that he was not written up or given verbal reprimands for job performance problems. The last written reprimand in his personnel file was dated 1998. In addition, the EEOC presented evidence showing that prior to San Fillipo's deposition, Defendants listed the reason for Jackson's termination as a reduction in staff. Gerald Benford testified that Jackson was a very tough supervisor, and that San Fillipo had told him that he had been trying to work with Jackson to smooth out his rough edges.
Jackson testified that he does not recall San Fillipo making comments that he believed were derogatory based on his age. However, when he was terminated, San Fillipo allegedly told Jackson that the company wanted "to go in