Opinion ID: 2750707
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Whether Ameristar Met Its Burden

Text: This court remanded to the ARB to resolve whether Clemmons’s e-mail to pilots, discovered by Ameristar two months after Clemmons was terminated, “was of such severity that [he] would have been terminated on those grounds alone . . . .” Ameristar Airways, 650 F.3d at 570 (alteration in original; quoting McKennon, 513 U.S. at 362–63). Ameristar claims it made this showing. The ALJ determined that Ameristar failed to provide clear and convincing proof that it would have terminated Clemmons solely on the basis of the e-mail. The ALJ based its decision, in part, on Ameristar’s “shifting and contradictory responses” to Clemmons’s discharge. The ALJ pointed out that Ameristar had three opportunities to provide the e-mail as one of the reasons for termination in its filings to the TWC and failed to do so. Although Ameristar did mention the e-mail in the May OSHA filing and at the June hearing, these contradictory responses could validly be seen as creating ambiguity, not clarity, as to whether it would have terminated Clemmons on the basis of the e-mail alone. Ameristar did not provide any evidence other than the e-mail itself. Coupled with the discredited testimony of Ameristar’s managers, the ALJ determined that, without any additional evidence, Ameristar was unable to meet its burden. Ameristar maintains that the ALJ’s reliance on the TWC filings is unreasonable. It admits that the e-mail was not referenced in the three TWC filings. It urges, however, that this is insignificant. According to Ameristar, 9 Case: 14-60061 Document: 00512834360 Page: 10 Date Filed: 11/12/2014 No. 14-60061 the March TWC filing was filed only three days after the e-mail was discovered and was essentially just a copy of what was previously filed with the TWC on February 5. Moreover, there is no evidence that the HR representative who filed the TWC document was made aware of the e-mail. Ameristar makes the same arguments with regard to the April filing, which was made less than a week later. It contends that failing to mention the e-mail in the June 26 filing is insignificant because the e-mail was already referenced at the June 20 hearing. Finally, Ameristar suggests the TWC filings do not constitute full position statements but rather merely responses to questions. When it did eventually file a full position statement on May 9 in response to the OSHA filing, it expressly mentioned the e-mail as one of the reasons for Clemmons’s termination. Ameristar further argues that the ARB ignored the severely contemptuous nature of the e-mail and failed to acknowledge the “sole inference arising from this e-mail and its context: Ameristar would never have continued to employ Clemmons after learning that he was undermining its president and actively seeking to destroy it.” Ameristar may be correct that many employers would terminate an employee after discovering Clemmons’s e-mail. But in this case, the ALJ had completely discredited the testimony of Ameristar’s managers, and Ameristar offered no evidence other than the e-mail. Consequently, there is substantial evidence to support the ALJ’s determination that Ameristar failed to prove its after-acquired-evidence defense by clear and convincing evidence. Petition for review DENIED. 10