Charles R. Mattenson, Plaintiff-Appellee/cross-Appellant v. Baxter Healthcare Corporation, Defendant-Appellant/cross-Appellee

POSNER, Circuit Judge.

Mattenson, a patent lawyer, brought suit against his former employer, Baxter Healthcare, under the Age Discrimination in Employment Act. The jury found in Mattenson’s favor and awarded him more than half a million dollars in back pay, which the judge then doubled, in accordance with the statute, because the jury had found that the violation of the ADEA was willful. But he refused to award front pay, precipitating Mattenson’s cross-appeal.

Mattenson was 51 years old when he was fired in 2001 after having worked for Baxter for 14 years. In asking the jury to infer that he…