In Ibrahim v. Marco A. Rubio, No. 1:24-CV-02915 (TNM), 2025 WL 3718637 (D.D.C. Dec. 23, 2025), the court, inter alia, denied defendant’s motion to dismiss plaintiff’s age discrimination claim asserted under the Age Discrimination in Employment Act (ADEA).
From the decision:
Ibrahim states a plausible ADEA claim. He is 65 years old. Compl. ¶ 47. Throughout his 38 years at the Embassy, he supposedly “received positive performance evaluations and was recognized for his dedication and service.” Id. ¶ 11. Still, he alleges, the Embassy denied him a promotion to LGF Deputy, “passing over [him] in favor of a less experienced, younger candidate.” Id. ¶ 14. After Ibrahim communicated his concerns about age discrimination both to his Embassy superior and an EEO counselor, the Embassy instigated the (by now well-known) disciplinary process that ended in his firing. Id. ¶¶ 15–30.
As with his surviving Title VII claims, Ibrahim’s Complaint is stingy on detail. More will be needed to withstand summary judgment. At this point, though, Ibrahim’s allegation that the Embassy passed him over for a younger candidate makes it plausible that “age discrimination play[ed] a[ ] part” in the Embassy’s decision not to promote and later discipline and terminate him. See Babb, 589 U.S. at 406; see also, e.g., Washington v. D.C. Hous. Auth., 170 F. Supp. 3d 234, 241–42 (D.D.C. 2016) (holding that ADEA claim overcame dismissal where plaintiff “claim[ed] to have been ‘eminently qualified’ for his position,” alleged that “his position was abolished,” and asserted that younger employees “were treated more favorably than he was”); Montgomery v. Omnisec Int’l Sec. Servs., Inc., 961 F. Supp. 2d 178, 183–84 (D.D.C. 2013) (denying motion to dismiss ADEA claim where plaintiff “stated that she endured younger officers being treated better and given better … assignments, even though she had seniority and more experience than them” (cleaned up)).
The court also held that plaintiff stated claims of disparate treatment and retaliation, but not hostile work environment, under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964.