Turner Padget Insights

Turner Padget Awarded Summary Judgment for Restaurant Chain

Posted On Sep 11, 2014

Turner Padget represented a South Carolina well-known quick service chain restaurant that terminated a long-time employee for a cash-handling violation. Following the termination, the former employee filed an age discrimination lawsuit against the chain. The chain turned to Turner Padget, its long-time employment counsel in the state, for their defense.

The firm approached the matter with the Supreme Court’s guidance in mind – requiring that age discrimination be a “but for” conclusion. During the investigation of the case, Turner Padget uncovered many twists and turns, including untruths by the Plaintiff’s daughter, threats to share the story with the local news station, and alleged incriminating statements by the store manager. Upon taking depositions, Turner Padget was able to get the daughter to admit that the majority of what she had stated to the chain was untrue, prove that the underlying facts of the cash handling violation were undisputed, and show that the employees who made the firing decision were of the same age or older than the terminated employee.

Turner Padget’s seasoned employment litigation team was able to sift through the varied facets of this case in order to identify the facts that would ultimately lead to a successful resolution. The firm established that there were no material facts in dispute regarding Plaintiff’s termination being directly related to the cash handling violation. This resulted in a summary judgment to the Defendant and a savings of potentially hundreds of thousands of dollars.