PPG Rejected Applicant’s Age Bias Claims Revived on Direct Proof

PPG Industries Inc. must face trial on claims that it rejected a 60-year-old California job applicant because of his age.

The US Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit ruling involved an infrequent instance where a worker has evidence that could directly link an employer to prohibited discrimination. Direct proof is evidence that establishes the existence of an illegal discriminatory animus without the need to resort to presumptions or inferences, the court said.

Elwyn Robinson pointed to separate remarks the PPG hiring manager at the company’s Mojave, Calif., sealant production facility allegedly made to him and to an outside recruiter, ...