Thompson v. Weyerhaeuser Co.

Before HENRY, Chief Judge, and MURPHY and TYMKOVICH, Circuit Judges.

After losing their jobs at the Weyerhaeuser Company’s Valliant, Oklahoma containerboard plant as part of a reduction in force, the plaintiffs filed this wrongful termination action against Weyerhaeuser, alleging violations of the Age Discrimination in Employment Act (ADEA), 29 U.S.C. §§ 621-34, and state law. In pretrial briefing, the plaintiffs requested that the court apply the pattern-or-practice framework adopted by the Supreme Court in International Brotherhood of Teamsters v. United States, 431 U.S. 324 (1977). Weyerhaeuser moved to strike the plaintiffs’ request, arguing that the pattern-or-practice framework should be employed only in employment discrimination cases filed under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, 42 U.S.C. §§ 2000e to 2000e-17. The district court denied Weyerhaeuser’s motion, reasoning that this court’s decision in Thiessen v. General Electric Capital Corp., 267 F.3d 1095 (10th Cir. 2001), establishes that the pattern-or-practice framework may be applied in ADEA cases. The court certified the issue for interlocutory appeal. See 28 U.S.C. § 1292(b).