Opinion ID: 163288
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Motion for JMOL

Text: 15 The district court denied McGraw-Hill's motion for JMOL. This court reviews de novo the denial of a motion for JMOL. Medlock v. Ortho Biotech, Inc., 164 F.3d 545, 549 (10th Cir.1999). In reviewing the district court's refusal to grant JMOL, this court draw[s] all reasonable inferences in favor of the nonmoving party. Reeves v. Sanderson Plumbing Prods., Inc., 530 U.S. 133, 150, 120 S.Ct. 2097, 147 L.Ed.2d 105 (2000). Further, this court does not weigh the evidence, pass on the credibility of the witnesses, or substitute [its] conclusions for that of the jury. Medlock, 164 F.3d at 549 (quotation omitted). The district court's refusal to grant JMOL will only [be] reverse[d] if the evidence points but one way and is susceptible to no reasonable inferences supporting the party opposing the motion. Id. (quotation omitted).
16 McGraw-Hill argues that Minshall failed to present sufficient evidence to establish that it discriminated against him on the basis of age when deciding not to renew his contract. See Fallis v. Kerr-McGee Corp., 944 F.2d 743, 744 (10th Cir.1991) (holding that after a full trial on the merits of plaintiff's discrimination claim, the remaining single overarching issue [is] whether plaintiff adduced sufficient evidence to warrant a jury's determination that adverse employment action was taken against him on the basis of age). After reviewing the record as a whole, this court is satisfied that Minshall offered sufficient evidence on which the jury could reasonably conclude McGraw-Hill's decision not to renew his contract was impermissibly based on his age. 17 At trial, McGraw-Hill presented evidence that the decision not to renew the contract was based on Minshall's poorly written scripts, tardiness, violations of professional ethics in disclosing the identity of a confidential informant, improper use of video in stories, and public drunkenness at a 1995 Emmy Awards ceremony. Minshall, however, presented contrary evidence that created a jury issue regarding McGraw-Hill's purported reasons for not renewing his contract. 18 Minshall presented the testimony of Lynn that Minshall's scripts were no worse than any other reporter's scripts. Lynn and Bjorkman both testified that they had never been confused in a newscast by any misspellings in Minshall's scripts. The evidence presented at trial showed that prior to Klinzing's employment at KMGH, Minshall had never been informed that his spelling or punctuality was a problem or was grounds for termination. Lynn and Bjorkman, who worked with Minshall for several years, testified that they thought Minshall was a good reporter. Further, Allen testified that he believed Minshall was a motivated and tenacious reporter. 19 McGraw-Hill argues that Lynn, Bjorkman, and Allen's testimony is irrelevant because they did not supervise Minshall and likely did not see his unedited work. While this court does not sit as a super-personnel department that second-guesses the [defendant's] business decisions,... evidence indicating that an employer misjudged an employee's performance... is, of course, relevant to the question of whether [the employer's] stated reason [for its actions] is ... masking prohibited discrimination. Tyler v. Re/Max Mountain States, Inc., 232 F.3d 808, 813-14 (10th Cir.2000) (quotation omitted). Lynn, Bjorkman, and Allen each had the opportunity to professionally observe Minshall's work while at KMGH. Accordingly, their testimony was relevant in assessing the veracity of McGraw-Hill's reasons for not renewing Minshall's contract. 20 Minshall also presented evidence that he was never threatened with termination regarding the disclosure of the identity of a confidential informant or his conduct at the Emmy Awards ceremony. Both of these incidents occurred over a year before KMGH's decision not to renew Minshall's contract and prior to Klinzing's employment at KMGH. 21 Finally, Minshall presented evidence that several on-air employees over the age of 40 were treated adversely while Klinzing was employed at KMGH. Specifically, Minshall introduced evidence that both Lynn and Bjorkman, who are over 40 years old, were removed from the ten o'clock nightly newscast and were replaced by Pujo, a woman in her late twenties or early thirties. Minshall also introduced evidence that Allen was given less favorable assignments as he aged. McGraw-Hill argues that because it presented evidence that Clarke and Reinertson, reporters over 40 years old, had no less on-air time after Klinzing was employed, the jury could not reasonably infer that Minshall's contract was not renewed because of his age. The jury, however, could reasonably infer from the evidence, albeit conflicting, that KMGH was reducing the air time of people over 40 years old and that Minshall's contract was not renewed because of his age. 22 In addition to introducing evidence to rebut the truthfulness of McGraw-Hill's asserted reasons for not renewing his contract, 2 Minshall introduced evidence that Klinzing was motivated by age-based animus and was principally responsible for the non-renewal of his contract. As News Director, Klinzing developed the news format and was responsible for renewing Minshall's contract. Klinzing testified that she created the news format, Real Life, Real News, with the intention of reaching a younger demographic and that she considered the physical appearance of the on-air anchors and reporters in making overall changes to the news programs. Allen testified that Klinzing told him not to wear a tie and to try to go with a younger look. Allen also testified that Klinzing said she didn't care if older people were watching television and that she was disgusted when she saw an old fart on television without a shirt. Minshall testified that Klinzing constantly talked to him about a younger presentation, a more youthful presentation, and that she wanted sexier stories that would appeal to a younger audience. Minshall and Lynn both testified that Klinzing asked them about their ages. Scott Sobel, a former reporter and anchor at KMGH, testified that Klinzing said Allen was too fucking old for the news format. Finally, Minshall introduced evidence that Klinzing said, in reference to her father, old people should die. 23 McGraw-Hill argues that the jury could not infer that age animus motivated Klinzing's decision not to renew Minshall's contract because she offered him a six-month contract in August 1996 and others at KMGH agreed with Klinzing's assessment of Minshall's work performance. McGraw-Hill further argues that if Klinzing was truly motivated by age animus she would have terminated Minshall in August 1996. Finally, McGraw-Hill argues that Klinzing was pleased with Minshall's on-air performance. Therefore, McGraw-Hill contends, the jury could not have reasonably concluded that Klinzing was motivated by age animus when she recommended that Minshall's contract not be renewed. While the evidence could support McGraw-Hill's interpretation, the jury reasonably rejected such an interpretation. 24 McGraw-Hill also argues that the statements attributed to Klinzing were stray comments and constitute an insufficient basis from which to draw an inference of age discrimination. While [i]solated comments, unrelated to the challenged action, are insufficient to show discriminatory animus in termination decisions, a plaintiff can show such animus by demonstrat[ing] a nexus between the allegedly discriminatory statements and the defendant's decision to terminate [the plaintiff]. Rea v. Martin Marietta Corp., 29 F.3d 1450, 1457 (10th Cir.1994) (holding that [a] causal nexus can be shown if the allegedly discriminatory comments were directed at the plaintiff, her position, or the defendant's policy which resulted in the adverse action taken against the plaintiff (quotation omitted)). 3 25 In this case, Klinzing's statements regarding the newly-introduced news format, including her instructions to Minshall and Allen regarding their on-air presentations, were not stray comments. Minshall argued that his contract was not renewed because, under the news format, Klinzing did not want to utilize on-air reporters over 40 years old. 4 Therefore, there was a nexus between Klinzing's statements with respect to the news format and Klinzing's decision not to renew Minshall's contract. 26 With respect to Klinzing's statement that Allen was too old for the news format, McGraw-Hill argues that this was a stray comment because it was not directed at Minshall and there was no connection between Allen's loss of air time and the decision not to renew Minshall's contract. Klinzing's statement, however, pertained to her motivation in developing the news format. Because Minshall presented evidence that Klinzing's decision not to renew his contract was motivated by her desire to reduce the presence of on-air reporters over 40 years old under the news format, however, there was a nexus between Klinzing's statement regarding Allen and her decision not to renew Minshall's contract. 27 Further, Klinzing's statements regarding older people watching or being broadcast on television were not stray comments. Klinzing testified that she considered the physical appearance of the on-air reporters in making changes to the overall appearance of the news program. As stated above, there was a nexus between Klinzing's statements made regarding the news format and her decision not to renew Minshall's contract. Similarly, there was a nexus between these statements and the decision not to renew Minshall's contract. In contrast, Klinzing's statement that old people should die was a stray comment. It is undisputed that Klinzing made this statement in reference to her father. Therefore, there is no connection between this statement and Klinzing's decision not to renew Minshall's contract. 5 28 Viewing the record as a whole, this court is satisfied that the jury reasonably concluded that KMGH unlawfully discriminated against Minshall on the basis of age when it decided not to renew his contract. Accordingly, the district court did not err in denying McGraw-Hill's motion for JMOL.
29 A plaintiff may be awarded liquidated damages under the ADEA if the defendant's violation was willful. 29 U.S.C. § 626(b). In this case, the jury found that McGraw-Hill's violation of the ADEA was willful and the court awarded liquidated damages. McGraw-Hill argues that the award was in error because Minshall failed to present sufficient evidence to support the jury's determination that its violation of the ADEA was willful. Moreover, McGraw-Hill argues that it presented sufficient evidence that it acted with a good faith belief that its conduct was lawful. 30 Under the ADEA, a violation is willful if the employer either knew or showed reckless disregard for the matter of whether its conduct was prohibited by the statute. Hazen Paper Co. v. Biggins, 507 U.S. 604, 617, 113 S.Ct. 1701, 123 L.Ed.2d 338 (1993). McGraw-Hill argues that because Minshall never complained Klinzing was discriminating against him, it acted on a good faith belief that its decision not to renew his contract was lawful. Klinzing, however, testified that she was instructed by KMGH not to hire anyone under the age of 40 to replace Minshall. From this evidence, the jury could reasonably conclude that McGraw-Hill knew its decision not to renew Minshall's contract was in violation of the ADEA or acted with reckless disregard over the matter. Accordingly, the district court did not err in granting Minshall liquidated damages.