When terminating an employee, defining goals and selecting the individual’s replacement is often the difference between the termination being considered discriminatory or not. Such lessons were recently reinforced by the recent decision in Hanna v. Lincoln Financial Group., No. 19-02273, 2020 U.S. Dist. LEXIS (Nov. 3, 2020), where a recruiter was given nebulous goals and then replaced by a younger employee who was, himself, on a performance plan.

Commission-Based Recruiter

Louis Hanna’s job for Lincoln was to recruit financial advisers for the company. He was compensated largely based upon the revenue that recruits for whom he was responsible would bring to the Lincoln. He started working for the company in 2015. In early 2017, he began to exhibit health issues such that he discussed with Lincoln the possibility of some sort of medical leave (possibly FMLA) at that time.