Court concludes long-time worker at Brookline Trader Joe's wasn't fired because of her age but because she bought beer for her underage grandson, who also worked there

A federal appeals court today agreed with a lower-court judge that the manager of the Coolidge Corner Trader Joe's had a legitimate reason to fire a 77-year-old worker, because she had been caught buying beer for her 19-year-old grandson, who also worked at the store at the time.

Gloria Cocuzzo sued the chain and the store manager in 2022, alleging she was fired because of her age, and despite a long record of outstanding reviews, bonuses and raises.

But in its ruling, the US Court of Appeals for the First Circuit in Boston said that even in looking at the facts in a light most favorable to Cocuzzo, she violated both Trader Joe's policy and state law when when her grandson picked out two four-packs, then handed it to her so she could pay for them at a register.

The court rejected her attorney's argument that bias was proven in several ways, including in the cases of six Trader Joe's employees under 40 who got only reprimands for selling alcohol to minors:

Of those six individuals, five were written up for neglecting to check the identification of underage customers attempting to buy alcohol, and Cocuzzo offers no evidence that these employees knew that the customers were underage. By contrast, Cocuzzo concedes that she purchased alcohol for an individual she knew to be nineteen years old -- a distinction that is sufficiently significant that comparing the five proffered employees to Cocuzzo would be inapt.