OPINION & ORDER Plaintiff commenced this action, proceeding pro se, under the Age Discrimination in Employment Act of 1967 (“ADEA”), 29 U.S.C. §§621-634, and the New York State Human Rights Law (“NYSHRL”), alleging that her former employer, Defendant Matrix Absence Management, Inc., discriminated against her based on her age and retaliated against her when she reported a superior’s age-related comments about another employee to Human Resources. Presently before the Court is Defendant’s motion to dismiss Plaintiff’s Amended Complaint pursuant to Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 12(b)(6). (ECF No. 25.) For the reasons that follow, the Court GRANTS Defendant’s motion. BACKGROUND The facts in this section are taken from the Amended Complaint (ECF No. 16), construed in the light most favorable to Plaintiff, and are presumed to be true for purposes of this motion. I. Factual Background Defendant, a company based in Hawthorne New York, handles various leave and absenceclaims — including short-term disability (“STD”) and Family and Medical Leave Act (“FMLA”) leave — for employers who are its clients. (Am. Compl. 14.) Plaintiff began working for Defendant as an Integrated Claims Examiner on April 1, 2008, when she was approximately 58 years old. (Id.
15, 17.) At the time of her hiring, there were approximately 13 other employees who, like Plaintiff, had previously worked for Verizon, all of whom were over the age of 50. (Id. 17.) In 2012, Plaintiff became an Integrated Claims Supervisor, a role in which she supervised a team of Integrated Claims Examiners and partnered with National Account Managers and clients. (Id.) In either December 2016 or January 2017, Defendant hired as Director of Operations Donn Eric Foster, who was in his thirties and whose duties included overseeing the FMLA group, of which Plaintiff was a part. (Id. 18.) At that time, Plaintiff was 66 years old and reported to Operations Manager Patricia Toranzo, who in turn reported to Foster. (Id. 19.) A. Plaintiff allegedly overhears Foster make ageist comments about Toranzo On September 28, 2017, Plaintiff overheard Foster on a telephone call in which Foster stated that Toranzo was an “ineffectual” manager who “should retire,” and that he thought Toranzo would have retired after her husband’s recent death but she had not. (Id. 20.) Foster said that he thought Toranzo was 70 or 71 years old. (Id.) He also said that Toranzo would “take all of us with her” or words to that effect, and that “the office would survive.” (Id.) Plaintiff “understood ‘all of us’ to mean a number of employees, all in their fifties, who joined Defendant after they left Verizon. (Id. 21.) She understood Foster to be saying that, not only should Toranzo retire, “but that he would be glad if the rest of the former Verizon employees left [Defendant] when Toranzo left.” (Id.) B. Plaintiff tells Toranzo about Foster’s comments; Toranzo reports them to HR Plaintiff was troubled and concerned about Foster’s comments and considered them discriminatory, for which she spoke with Toranzo about her concerns. (Id. 22.) Toranzo subsequently reported a claim of age discrimination to Human Resources (“HR”) based on what Plaintiff had told her. (Id. 23.) HR later interviewed Plaintiff about what she had overheard Foster saying on the telephone. (Id. 24.) Plaintiff claims that HR never advised her of a final outcome, and that the HR Director in one undated instance told her “you’ve already had your career….” (Id.) Foster knew that HR had interviewed Plaintiff concerning his comments about Toranzo, and he told HR that Plaintiff had “misconstrued” his remarks. (Id. 26.) C. Plaintiff applies for an Operations Manager position, but she does not get it In the spring of 2018, after Foster became Senior Director of Operations, Defendant posted a vacancy for an Operations Manager position who would report directly to Foster. (Id. 27.) Plaintiff applied for the Operations Manager position, for which she claims she was “well-qualified.” (Id. 28.) Out of the four people who applied, Plaintiff, at the time 68 years old, was “by far” the oldest applicant. (Id. 30.) Although it had only posted the vacancy for one position, Defendant promoted two people into the position, one in her forties, Jeanine Fleming, and one in her fifties, Kim Wilson. (Id.
