Firing employee who can't Power Point is not age discrimination

Tower Automotive underwent a major down-sizing as it progressed through bankruptcy, including eliminating 15 of 21 buyer positions.  62-year old Raymond Geiger was one of the buyers who was let go, despite a solid work record.  He filed suit alleging age discrimination.  He documented several irregularities in the hiring process and questionable items of evidence, including an unexplained and falsified memorandum about who would be invited to apply for the limited openings, and a supervisor's attempt to train a younger employee for Geiger's position. 

Despite this evidence, the Sixth Circuit upheld the dismissal of Geiger's claim, finding that he had not presented enough evidence to overcome the heightened standard of proof applicable in work force reductions.  It concluded that the Tower documentation confirmed it had hired the "better worker" because the woman hired exhibited more "up-to-date [skill sets, including]...Power Point, Excel, things of that nature."