Document ID: s3://data.kl3m.ai/documents/govinfo/USCOURTS/USCOURTS-ca10-15-06191/USCOURTS-ca10-15-06191-0/pdf.json

Parties Involved:
William Gaige
Appellant
Saia Motor Freight Line, LLC
Appellee

Document Text:

UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS 

FOR THE TENTH CIRCUIT 

_________________________________ 

WILLIAM GAIGE, 

 Plaintiff - Appellant, 

v. 

SAIA MOTOR FREIGHT LINE, LLC, a 

Louisiana limited liability company, 

 Defendant - Appellee. 

No. 15-6191 

(D.C. No. 5:14-CV-00470-BA) 

(W.D. Okla.) 

_________________________________ 

ORDER AND JUDGMENT*

_________________________________ 

Before KELLY, PHILLIPS, and MORITZ, Circuit Judges. 

_________________________________ 

 After William Gaige was fired from his job while on leave from work under 

the Family and Medical Leave Act, 29 U.S.C. §§ 2601-54 (“FMLA”), he sued his 

former employer, SAIA Motor Freight Line, LLC, for interference with his FMLAcreated rights in violation of 29 U.S.C. § 2615(a)(1).1

 During the litigation, the 

district court made three rulings based on Federal Rule of Evidence 403 that Gaige 

claims were abuses of discretion. On these grounds, Gaige seeks reversal of the 

 *

 This order and judgment is not binding precedent, except under the doctrines 

of law of the case, res judicata, and collateral estoppel. It may be cited, however, for 

its persuasive value consistent with Fed. R. App. P. 32.1 and 10th Cir. R. 32.1. 

1

 Appellant sued for retaliation for exercising his rights under the FMLA in 

violation of 29 U.S.C. § 2615(a)(2), but later elected to proceed only on his 

interference claim. 

FILED 

United States Court of Appeals

Tenth Circuit 

November 29, 2016

Elisabeth A. Shumaker 

Clerk of Court

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district court’s denial of his Motion for New Trial. The district court acted within its 

discretion in finding that the proposed evidence’s unfair prejudice substantially 

outweighed its probative value. Exercising jurisdiction under 28 U.S.C. § 1291, we 

affirm. 

BACKGROUND 

I. Facts 

 Weeks before losing his job, Gaige broke his ankle playing soccer. But weeks 

before that, SAIA had started investigating him for a conflict of interest. On October 

21, 2013, after a caller left an anonymous tip on SAIA’s hotline, SAIA began 

investigating Gaige for a conflict of interest. The caller accused Gaige of using his 

SAIA contacts to generate business for a side venture. Initially, SAIA’s internal-audit 

group conducted the investigation without involving Gaige’s supervisors. SAIA 

planned to continue investigating Gaige during its November audit of the Oklahoma 

City terminal, where Gaige worked. 

On November 15, 2013, Gaige broke his ankle playing soccer. Gaige applied 

for FMLA leave after his regional manager, Rodney Warmke, insisted he take it. On 

December 12, 2013, he received approval and his leave dated back to November 25, 

2013. 

Meanwhile, between Gaige’s injury and his FMLA-leave approval, SAIA 

continued investigating Gaige. SAIA discovered that a small transport company 

named Batak, LLC was registered to Gaige’s wife. Although SAIA is a national 

freight transporter, SAIA determined that Batak conflicted with some of its 

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operations. SAIA concluded that the conflict violated company policy and was 

grounds for termination. On December 18, 2013, though Gaige was on FMLA leave, 

SAIA fired him. 

II. Procedural History 

Gaige sued SAIA for interference with his FMLA rights under 29 U.S.C. § 

2615(a)(1). Before trial, SAIA moved in limine to exclude evidence of past 

discrimination from former SAIA employees. The district court excluded (1) 

testimony from Theodies Nelson, a former SAIA employee who had earlier taken 

FMLA leave; (2) references to the case Gray v. SAIA Motor Freight Line, Inc., No. 

CJ-2001-2844 (Dist. Ct. Okla.) (“Gray case”), a workers’-compensation suit that 

SAIA lost;2

 and (3) testimony about SAIA’s FMLA policies from David Crites, a 

former SAIA employee who worked in SAIA’s Indiana terminal. 

During his case-in-chief, Gaige introduced evidence to disprove that SAIA 

fired him for a conflict of interest. Gaige testified that Batak’s operations differed 

from SAIA’s. A former SAIA employee from SAIA’s Salt Lake City terminal, Gary 

Holyoak, testified that SAIA fired him after he had taken FMLA leave. He also 

testified that SAIA had a policy of disciplining employees who take FMLA leave. 

In its jury instructions, the district court stated that Gaige had satisfied the first 

two elements of his interference claim and that SAIA had the burden of proving that 

Gaige’s termination was unrelated to his FMLA leave. The jury returned a verdict for 

 2

 The district court agreed to allow references to the Gray case if SAIA opened 

the door at trial. 

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SAIA, and Gaige filed a Rule 59 Motion for New Trial, arguing that the district 

court’s three evidentiary exclusions made the trial unfair. The district court denied 

the motion. We consider each of the three evidentiary rulings below and hold that the 

district court acted within its discretion. 

DISCUSSION 

On appeal, Gaige argues that the district court erroneously excluded pastdiscrimination evidence. He seeks reversal of the district court’s denial of his Motion 

for New Trial on this ground. We first discuss the evidence’s relevancy within an 

FMLA claim’s context. We then conclude that the district court acted within its 

discretion in excluding the evidence because it properly applied factors to determine 

the evidence’s relevance, instead of applying a per se rule, and excluded the evidence 

under Federal Rule of Evidence 403. Thus, we affirm the district court’s denial of 

Gaige’s Motion for New Trial. 

I. Standard of Review 

We review the district court’s evidentiary exclusions for abuse of discretion. 

Frederick v. Swift Transp. Co., 616 F.3d 1074, 1083 (10th Cir. 2010). A district court 

abuses its discretion “only when it makes a clear error of judgment, exceeds the 

bounds of permissible choice, or when its decision is arbitrary, capricious or 

whimsical, or results in a manifestly unreasonable judgment.” Mathis v. Huff & Puff 

Trucking, Inc., 787 F.3d 1297, 1309 (10th Cir. 2015) (quoting Queen v. TA 

Operating, LLC, 734 F.3d 1081, 1086 (10th Cir. 2013)). We will affirm the “district 

court’s evidentiary ruling ‘absent a distinct showing it was based on a clearly 

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erroneous finding of fact or an erroneous conclusion of law or manifests a clear error 

of judgment.’” Eller v. Trans Union, LLC, 739 F.3d 467, 474 (10th Cir. 2013) 

(quoting Cartier v. Jackson, 59 F.3d 1046, 1048 (10th Cir. 1995)). 

II. Relevant Evidence and the FMLA 

Generally, relevant evidence is admissible, and irrelevant evidence is 

inadmissible. Fed. R. Evid. 402. Relevant evidence is evidence having “any tendency 

to make a fact more or less probable than it would be without the evidence” when 

“the fact is of consequence in determining the action.” Fed. R. Evid. 401. The 

relevance of past discrimination is “determined in the context of the facts and 

arguments in a particular case, and thus [is] generally not amenable to broad per se

rules.” See Sprint/United Mgmt. Co. v. Mendelsohn, 552 U.S. 379, 387 (2008). Still, 

the district court can exclude relevant evidence when “its probative value is 

substantially outweighed by a danger of . . . unfair prejudice.” Fed. R. Evid. 403. 

A. FMLA-Interference Claim

We examine the evidence’s relevance within the context of an FMLAinterference claim. See Sprint, 552 U.S. at 387 (explaining that relevance is 

determined within the context of a particular case). For an FMLA-interference claim, 

an employee must prove: “(1) that he was entitled to FMLA leave, (2) that some 

adverse action by the employer interfered with his right to take FMLA leave, and (3) 

that the employer’s action was related to the exercise or attempted exercise of his 

FMLA rights.” Jones v. Denver Pub. Sch., 427 F.3d 1315, 1319 (10th Cir. 2005). 

After the employee proves the first two elements, the burden shifts to the employer to 

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prove that the adverse decision was “[un]related to the exercise or attempted exercise 

of [the employee’s] FMLA rights.” Dalpiaz v. Carbon Cty., 760 F.3d 1126, 1132 

(10th Cir. 2014) (second alteration in original) (quoting Campbell v. Gambro 

Healthcare, Inc., 478 F.3d 1282, 1287 (10th Cir. 2007)). When the employer satisfies 

its burden, the burden never shifts back to the employee to prove pretext because 

“intent is not necessary [to prove] FMLA interference claims.” Brown v. ScriptPro, 

LLC, 700 F.3d 1222, 1228 (10th Cir. 2012) (citing Metzler v. Fed. Home Loan Bank 

of Topeka, 464 F.3d 1164, 1180 (10th Cir. 2006)). 

Here, the first two elements are undisputed. The parties agreed that (1) Gaige 

was entitled to FMLA leave (element 1); and (2) Gaige’s termination constituted an 

“adverse action” that interfered with Gaige’s FMLA rights (element 2). So SAIA had 

the burden of proving it fired Gaige for an unrelated reason. And because Gaige 

satisfied the first two elements, Gaige’s past-discrimination evidence could have only 

been relevant to dispute SAIA’s unrelated-reason evidence. See Brown, 700 F.3d at 

1228 (analyzing pretext evidence in an interference claim as offered to dispute the 

employer’s evidence).

B. Nexus Between Past Discrimination and Plaintiff’s Circumstances 

The relevance of past-discrimination evidence is determined by finding a 

nexus between it and the plaintiff’s circumstances. See Minshall v. McGraw Hill 

Broad. Co., 323 F.3d 1273, 1282 (10th Cir. 2003). Whether a logical nexus exists 

“depends on many factors, including how closely related the evidence is to the 

plaintiff’s circumstances and theory of the case.” See Sprint, 552 U.S. at 388. And it 

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is an abuse of discretion for a district court to apply per se rules of exclusion. Id. at 

387. Some relevant factors include: i) proximity in time; ii) the decision-makers 

involved; and iii) similar treatment of the witness and plaintiff. Griffin v. Finkbeiner, 

689 F.3d 584, 599 (6th Cir. 2012). 

The district court applied these factors and ultimately excluded the evidence 

under Rule 403. The following three subsections analyze the district court’s 

evidentiary exclusions. 

1. Theodies Nelson

Gaige contends the district court excluded Nelson’s testimony by applying a 

“same supervisor” requirement. Had the district court applied such a per se rule of 

exclusion, Gaige is correct that it would have abused its discretion. Sprint, 552 U.S. 

at 388. But the record shows that the district court did not apply a per se rule. Rather, 

it examined the evidence’s relevance under Rule 401 and its admissibility under Rule 

403. 

From 2008 to 2011, Nelson worked as a dock supervisor at SAIA’s Burr 

Ridge, Illinois terminal. Nelson alleges that SAIA fired him for taking FMLA leave. 

In its Rule 401 analysis, the district court properly analyzed the nexus between 

Nelson and Gaige. Noting that Nelson and Gaige had worked in different regions 

under different supervisors, the district court concluded that Nelson’s testimony was 

minimally relevant. The district court stated that it was a “very thin read to say that 

[Nelson’s testimony has] a tendency to make it more likely than not that Mr. Gaige 

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had his FMLA rights interfered with because someone in a different region had this 

happen.” Appellee Supp. App’x vol. 4, 894. 

The district court applied Rule 403 to exclude the testimony. “[T]he district 

court may exclude relevant evidence if its probative value is substantially outweighed 

by a danger of . . . unfair prejudice, confusing the issues, misleading the jury, undue 

delay, wasting time, or needlessly presenting cumulative evidence.” Fed. R. Evid. 

403. The district court balanced the testimony’s minimal relevance against its risk of 

creating an illogical inference and leading to a mini-trial. We find the district court 

acted within its discretion in excluding the testimony.

2. Gray Case

Gaige contends the district court erroneously applied a “same supervisor” 

requirement to exclude references to the Gray case. But again, the record shows that 

the district court considered the evidence’s relevance under Rule 401 and excluded it 

under Rule 403. 

The Gray case involved a former-SAIA employee who claimed retaliation for 

taking workers’-compensation benefits and involved allegations that SAIA had 

fabricated evidence. In its relevancy analysis, the district court examined the 

differences between the Gray case and Gaige’s termination, including differences 

between the supervisors, the claims, and the timing. Ultimately, the district court 

excluded the evidence under Rule 403 for unfair prejudice. Unfair prejudice exists 

when the evidence has a tendency to suggest a decision on an improper basis. United 

States v. Cerno, 529 F.3d 926, 935 (10th Cir. 2008). Finding that the evidence 

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provoked this type of response, the district court stated, “I can easily see a jury going 

back and saying ‘You know, these [SAIA] guys deserve to lose every single lawsuit 

[because] they fabricate evidence.’” Appellee Supp. App’x vol. 4, 863–67. The 

district court acted within its discretion when it excluded the evidence on this basis. 

3. David Crites

Finally, we consider whether the district court abused its discretion when it 

excluded testimony from David Crites about SAIA’s FMLA policies. The district 

court excluded Crites’s testimony based on Federal Rules of Evidence 602 and 403, 

not on a per se “same supervisor” rule, as Gaige contends. 

Crites attended a national- and Chicago-regional-SAIA meeting where he 

heard supervisors discuss a policy of terminating employees who take FMLA leave. 

The district court worried that Crites lacked personal knowledge of SAIA’s 

nationwide policy, so it conducted voir dire. See Fed. R. Evid. 602 (“A witness may 

testify to a matter only if evidence is introduced sufficient to support a finding that 

the witness has personal knowledge of the matter.”). During voir dire, Gaige’s 

attorney failed to establish foundation for Crites’s testimony that SAIA had a national 

policy of discrimination. When Crites was at the national meeting, he heard the 

discussions in a breakout session for SAIA’s eastern region. And the two supervisors 

leading the session worked in SAIA’s eastern region. The same two supervisors led 

the discussion at the Chicago-regional meeting. 

Because Crites lacked information about the SAIA-western-regional policy, 

where Gaige worked, the district court concluded that Crites lacked proper 

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foundation to testify about SAIA’s national policy. The district court was concerned 

the jury would unfairly attribute the statements of two supervisors to SAIA as a 

whole. Because of these Rule 602 concerns, the district court acted within its 

discretion in excluding the evidence under Rule 403. 

CONCLUSION 

Because Gaige’s appeal for a new trial depends on a finding that the district 

court abused its discretion in excluding the evidence and we find that the district 

court acted within its discretion in excluding the evidence, we affirm the district 

court’s denial of Gaige’s Motion for New Trial. 

Entered for the Court 

Gregory A. Phillips 

Circuit Judge 

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