Wash. Court of Appeals published opinion — 723421.pdf

Citation: Wash. Court of Appeals published opinion — 723421.pdf
Jurisdiction: Washington (state)
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Original Source: https://www.courts.wa.gov/opinions/pdf/723421.pdf ↗

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Corbis Corporation supplies digital images and stock
photography worldwide. Steven Lodis was hired in 2005 by then-
chief-executive-officer (CEO) Steve Davis to serve as vice
president of worldwide human resources (HR) for Corbis. In July
2007, 37 year old Gary Shenk replaced Davis as CEO. Davis
expressed concerns to Shenk about Lodis's performance. Instead
of terminating Lodis, Shenk appointed Lodis to his nine person
executive management team. Lodis was 55 at the time of the
promotion. He initially received positive performance reviews from
Shenk.
After becoming CEO, Shenk made many comments
indicating his preference for younger workers. He talked about
olderworkers being "out of touch," "an old-timer," "grandmotherly,"
or "the old guy on [the] team." Shenk also expressed interest to
Lodis in hiring younger workers for his executive team.
Lodis spoke with Shenk on several occasions about Shenk's
age related comments. Lodis explained that there was a growing
concern among Corbis employees about Shenk's comments. As
the highest ranking HR officer at Corbis, Lodis reminded Shenkthat
age should not be a factor in hiring or firing employees. Lodis
explained later that he admonished Shenk, because he was "trying
to protect [him]." In late 2007, Lodis expressed his concern about
Shenk's comments to Corbis General Counsel Jim Mitchell.
Around that same time, in late 2007 or possibly January 2008,
Shenk promoted Lodis to senior vice president. Lodis also received
a pay raise and incentive bonus at that time.
In January 2008, Shenk organized executive team members
and an independent consultant to conduct Lodis's annual
performance review. The parties dispute the circumstances
surrounding that performance review. Lodis alleges that Shenk
specifically recruited Lodis detractors