141349P.pdf   08/13/2015  Cynthia Thomas  v.  Heartland Employment Services
   U.S. Court of Appeals Case No:  14-1349
   U.S. District Court for the Western District of Missouri - Kansas City   
   [PUBLISHED] [Colloton, Author, with Loken and Smith, Circuit Judges] 
   Civil case - Employment discrimination. There was a genuine issue of 
   material fact as to whether age was a contributing factor in plaintiff's 
   discharge and the district court erred in granting defendants' motion for 
   summary judgment on plaintiff's age claim under the Missouri Human Rights 
   Act; a jury could reasonably infer that defendant Hagen was a 
   decision-maker or closely involved in the decision to terminate plaintiff; 
   Hagen's age-related comments were sufficiently related to plaintiff and to 
   the decisional process to constitute direct evidence of discrimination; as 
   a result, a reasonable jury could infer that Hagen affirmed and took part 
   in the discharge decision, that he was motivated by age-based animus and 
   that his bias was a contributing factor in the adverse employment action.