Title: Adams v. Green Mountain Railroad Co.

State: vermont

Issuer: Vermont Supreme Court

Document:

Adams v. Green Mountain Railroad Co. (2003-026); 177 Vt. 521; 862 A.2d 233

2004 VT 75

[Filed 18-Aug-2004]

                                 ENTRY ORDER

                                 2004 VT 75

                      SUPREME COURT DOCKET NO. 2003-026

                             JANUARY TERM, 2004

  Barbara J. Adams	               }	APPEALED FROM:
                                       }
                                       }
       v.	                       }	Windham Superior Court
                                       }	
  Green Mountain Railroad Company      }
                                       }	DOCKET NO. 294-6-01 Wmcv

                                                Trial Judge: Richard W. Norton
                                                             John P. Wesley

             In the above-entitled cause, the Clerk will enter:

       ¶  1.  Defendant Green Mountain Railroad Company appeals from a jury
  verdict in favor of plaintiff Barbara Adams on her claim that defendant
  violated public policy by firing her for reporting that a supervisor had
  grabbed her arm during a verbal confrontation.  We conclude that the
  superior court erred by not granting defendant's motion for judgment as a
  matter of law because plaintiff failed to sustain her burden of proving
  that defendant fired her for the reason she alleged rather than for the
  reasons asserted by the company.  Accordingly, we vacate the jury's verdict
  and remand the matter for the court to enter judgment in favor of
  defendant.
   
       ¶  2.  In reviewing the denial of a motion for judgment as a matter
  of law, we view the evidence in a light most favorable to the nonmoving
  party, and we exclude the effects of any modifying evidence.  Gero v.
  J.W.J. Realty, 171 Vt. 57, 59,