Troy

MEMORANDUM *

Vernon Troy, a former sales representative for Standard Insurance Company, appeals the summary judgment in favor of the employer in a claim brought under the Age Discrimination in Employment Act (“ADEA”), 29 U.S.C. § 623 (a). We have jurisdiction under 28 U.S.C. § 1291 . We review the award of summary judgment de novo, Devereaux v. Abbey, 263 F.3d 1070, 1074 (9th Cir.2001), and we reverse. Because the parties are familiar with the factual background, we do not recite the details here.

The district court did not have the benefit of the Supreme Court’s decision in Reeves v. Sanderson Plumbing Prod., Inc., 530 U.S. 133 , 120 S.Ct. 2097 , 147 L.Ed.2d 105 (2000), at the time of its decision. Reeves requires that we reverse the summary judgment in favor of Standard and remand for trial. Employees need offer “very little evidence” of discrimination in order to defeat an employer’s motion for summary judgment, Chuang v. Univ. of Cal. Davis, 225 F.3d 1115, 1124 (9th Cir. 2000), because the ultimate question of determining the reason for the employer’s actions requires a “searching inquiry — one that is most appropriately conducted by a factfinder, upon a full record.”…