James Smith, Appellant v. Anchorage School District, Appellee

Summary

The Alaska Supreme Court affirmed summary judgment for the Anchorage School District on Smith's race, age, disability, and implied-covenant claims. Smith did not produce admissible evidence creating a genuine issue of material fact that discrimination motivated his termination, that the District caused a breakdown in the disability-accommodation process, or that the termination violated the covenant of good faith and fair dealing. The court also declined to adopt the federal age-discrimination causation rule because Alaska's statute is broader and uses a common statutory framework for discrimination claims.