Gordon Rees Scully Mansukhani Partners Don Willenburg, Michael Bruno, and Rachel Wintterle secured a unanimous victory for the Regents of the University of California in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit. The court affirmed summary judgment in favor of the Regents, rejecting claims brought under the Age Discrimination Act of 1975.
The plaintiff, a UCSF medical school graduate, alleged that the University of California, San Francisco, engaged in age-based discrimination and retaliation when it declined to admit him to its neurosurgery residency program. The Ninth Circuit held that the Age Discrimination Act does not apply to the residency ranking and selection process, which the court determined to be an employment practice exempt from the statute’s coverage. The panel further found that, even if the Act did apply, the plaintiff had failed to demonstrate a genuine issue of material fact sufficient to proceed to trial.
The Ninth Circuit’s decision represents a significant precedent in clarifying the limits of the Age Discrimination Act and underscores GRSM’s strength in appellate advocacy as well as in defending educational institutions and employers against complex statutory claims.