00-4239 Lesch v. Crown Cork & Seal Co.

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Accounting is a profession (like many others) that has become increasingly computerized in recent years. The uncontroverted evidence in this record establishes that CT was moving toward a more computer-reliant system of accounting. There is also no question that Genutis’ understanding of computers and dexterity with accounting software was far superior to Lesch’s; Genutis came to CIMS from a computing job and, as White mentioned in her e-mail to Leh, it was Genutis who trained Lesch’s staff in the use of computers and accounting software. On appeal, Lesch goes to great lengths to demonstrate that he was not completely computer-illiterate – he could use a keyboard, he could open and save Excel files, and he could input data into spreadsheets. All this may be true, but it is beside the point. There is much more to computerizing a company’s accounting activities than knowing how to open an Excel file, and Genutis was known to have far more of the requisite skills. Much more so than Lesch, he was well versed in information technology and how it could be used to make accounting operations more efficient. White was entitled to rely on this skill difference in choosing between Lesch and Genutis, and there is no evidence that her claim to have done so was a lie.”

Affirmed.

Appeal from the United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois, Conlon, J., Diane P. Wood, J.