Opinion ID: 59493
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Argument regarding Captain D's training manuals and post-accident conduct

Text: Captain D's argues that the district court erred by admitting into evidence Captain D's training manual, which contains an instruction that employees should never admit fault, and testimony regarding Captain D's post-accident conduct. Captain D's contends that this evidence is sufficiently irrelevant under Fed. R.Evid. 401 and prejudicial under Fed. R.Evid. 403 that it should have been excluded. Further, Captain D's asserts that the district court's permitting Foradori's counsel to rely on this evidence in arguments to the jury sufficiently prejudiced Captain D's so as to warrant a new trial. We disagree. Captain D's did not object to admission of the training manual's never admit fault provision at trial. [27] Accordingly, we review this issue for plain error only, see Duffaut, 314 F.3d at 208-09, and we find none because any possible error here is not clear or obvious. See id. While the manual's instruction that employees should never admit fault is probably prejudicial and was repeated as a refrain in Foradori's attorney's closing arguments, the district court admitted the training manual's statement for the relevant purpose of showing Captain D's failure to train and inculcate its employees in their responsibility for protecting customers from risks attendant to on-premises conflicts. The district court could, within its discretion, have determined that the danger of unfair prejudice here was minimal and did not outweigh the probative value of the evidence. Thus, there is no reversible plain error here because there is no clear error. As for evidence of Captain D's post-accident conduct, this testimony was not unfairly prejudicial and its admission did not constitute an abuse of discretion. Captain D's objected to questions about whether Rhodes, Captain D's general manager, asked his employees about the incidents leading up to Foradori's injury. Rhodes stated that he did not. He also stated that the two employees involved in the fight, Harris and Cannon, were not fired immediately after the incident because he considered the episode to have been an accident. Finally, he stated that his managers were the ones who conducted the investigation and that they told me everything I needed to know. The district court found this testimony to shed[] considerable light upon [the] managerial style. The trial judge reasonably could have concluded that the evidence of Captain D's lack of concern and precautions for customer safety post-episode had probative value tending to show managerial attitudes at the time of the altercation and assault that was not substantially outweighed by its prejudicial effects. Thus, the district court did not abuse its discretion by admitting this evidence.