Judge dismisses age, race discrimination lawsuit against State College-area Petco
A federal judge Monday dismissed a racial and age discrimination lawsuit brought by an older Black man who worked at the State College-area Petco for nearly two decades before he was fired by new management.
Shipp Brown was terminated in 2018 after an expedited series of reprimands, but Chief U.S. Middle District Judge Matthew W. Brann wrote there was not enough evidence to prove it was because of his age or race.
All but one of Brown’s reprimands and infractions were credible, Brann wrote after reviewing each of the records. Although the national pet retailer was cleared of violating federal law, it did not escape criticism of how it operates its stores.
The evidence, Brann wrote, showed Brown’s managers did not like him and may have harbored animus toward him. Brown alleged — and his colleagues agreed — his manager was harsh and treated him unprofessionally.
Another manager seemingly disliked Brown so much that she conducted an unannounced walk-through of the store and, rather than issue a formal reprimand, typed a “stream-of-consciousness list of grievances into an undated Word document.”
“Be that as it may, the Court is not a workplace mediator, nor is the Court in a position to tell Petco how to run its stores. The reasons Brown’s managers did not like him is only the Court’s concern to the extent that there is evidence that such animus was bred by racial or age-based discrimination,” Brann wrote in his 36-page ruling. “This matter is before the Court because Brown has leveled serious allegations against Petco, and those allegations require more than evidence of personal dislike, unprofessionalism, or friction between employees’ personalities. They require evidence proving that Brown was fired because he was an older, black employee.”
Petco declined comment. Brown’s attorneys wrote in an email that they plan to meet with him to discuss a potential appeal.
“While we are pleased the Court recognized there was evidence that Petco management harbored animus towards Mr. Brown and subjected him to rude and unprofessional treatment, we respectfully disagree with the Court’s holding that his termination was not based on unlawful race- and age-based discrimination,” attorney Emily Ishler wrote.
Brown, who was hired in 2002, was 65 when he was fired. He was the oldest and only Black worker at the store. A 31-year-old white man filled his position.
As a guest experience leader, Brown was responsible for leading and training employees to ensure compliance with Petco’s policies and procedures. The company said Brown was fired because of his poor performance.
Personal items and food were stored in the salon, scheduling policies were not followed and workers in the salon racked up unapproved overtime even after Brown was given explicit direction they should not.
Brown’s lawsuit also failed, in part, because of conflicting testimony.
When asked whether he verbally informed a supervisor that he felt targeted due to his race or age, Brown said he did not mention it. In an affidavit submitted five months later, Brown wrote he did.
The judge described Brown’s changing testimony as a “red flag.”