Employer prevails in age case despite failure to give employee opportunity to explain incident prior to termination

In Rivera-Aponte v. Restaurant Metropol #3, Inc., (1st Cir. 07/28/03), the 1st Cir. affirmed summary judgment in favor of an employer who terminated the plaintiff following an altercation with another employee, who apparently was not terminated. The plaintiff “threw or accidentally dropped a tray full of drinking glasses” on the other employee, who was injured, requiring twelve stitches at the hospital. The employer fired the plaintiff the same day, after determining that he was the aggressor.

Attempting to provide evidence of pretext, the plaintiff argued “that the pre-termination investigation was cursory — evidenced by the fact that [he] was never allowed to explain his side of the story.” The employer responded that it determined, based on one interview and the other employee’s undisputed injuries, that the plaintiff was the aggressor, and “sought to take swift action to deter further workplace violence.”

Siding with the employer on this point, the 1st Cir. stated: “Whether a termination decision was wise or done in haste is irrelevant, so long as the decision was not made with discriminatory animus.”

Typical example of employer acting out of somewhat exaggerated sense of urgency. How much time would it have taken to interview the plaintiff to hear his side of the story? How much less deterrence of workplace violence would have occurred if he had been suspended pending investigation, while a more thorough, documented investigation took place? Would doing so have reduced the risk of a lawsuit?

Technically, of course, the 1st Cir. is correct that “whether a termination decision was wise or done in haste is irrelevant.” But with wise and carefully considered decisions, employers may not have to take a costly trip to the United States Court of Appeals in order to vindicate their judgment!

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