By: Derek Hawkins//February 8, 2016//
7th Circuit Court of Appeals
Case Name: Lionel Bordelon v. Board of Education of the City of Chicago
Case No.: 14-3240
Officials: BAUER, POSNER, and KANNE, Circuit Judges.
Focus: Age Discrimination
Council’s decision to now renew contract of long-tenured principal rooted in sound independent reasons, not based on his age.
“Coates’s statement is not an express remark about Bordelon’s age. Nor is it an ambiguous remark sufficient to give rise to an inference that Coates was motivated by age. Ever‐ hart clarified that he thought this statement was referring to the school’s poor academic performance, not Bordelon’s age. Council member Chantelle Allen testified that Coates did not make any statements about Bordelon’s age at the meeting. The statement made, unlike Robinson, does not even mention age. Coupled with the testimony of Everhart and Allen, no rational trier of fact could draw the inference that Coates was motivated to discriminate against Bordelon based on his age because of this statement.”
Affirmed