Opinion ID: 69366
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: The COBRA Retaliation Claim

Text: After both sides rested at trial, the district court granted Jefferson Parish’s motion for judgment as a matter of law with respect to the retaliation claim regarding COBRA. We review the district court’s ruling de novo. Wallace, 271 F.3d at 218. A motion for judgment as a matter of law should be granted when “a party has been fully heard on an issue during a jury trial and the court finds that a reasonable jury would not have a legally sufficient evidentiary basis to find for the party on that issue . . . .” Fed. R. Civ. P. 50(a). No legally sufficient evidentiary basis exists when “the facts and inferences point so strongly and overwhelmingly in favor of one party that the Court believes that reasonable men could not arrive at a contrary verdict.” Wallace, 271 F.3d at 219 (citation and quotation marks omitted). Here, the court found that no causal connection existed between the filing of Manthos’s EEOC complaint and the decision not to reinstate the COBRA benefits. A plaintiff can establish a causal link by showing that “the employer’s decision . . . was based in part on knowledge of the employee’s protected activity.” Medina v. Ramsey Steel Co., Inc., 238 F.3d 674, 684 (5th Cir. 2001) (internal quotation marks and citation omitted). Jefferson Parish has presented direct evidence that the decision-maker regarding the COBRA benefit reinstatement, Aubrey Devillier, was unaware of Manthos’s EEOC filing. At trial, Devillier testified that, prior to deciding not to accept the late payment, he had no knowledge of Manthos’s EEOC filings. The circumstantial evidence proffered by Manthos does not seem to undermine Devillier’s sworn testimony. Therefore, the district court properly granted judgment as a matter of law. 7 No. 08-31069