Opinion ID: 714649
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Admission of Statements by Joe McCalla

Text: 22 Halliburton argues that the district court erred in admitting age-related comments attributed to Joe McCalla because those comments were both highly prejudicial and of no probative value. Evidentiary rulings are reviewed for abuse of discretion and will not be disturbed unless we have a definite and firm conviction that the district court made a clear error or exceeded the bounds of permissible choice under the circumstances. Gilbert v. Cosco Inc., 989 F.2d 399, 402 (10th Cir.1993). 23 General and isolated age-related comments are not admissible to prove intentional age discrimination. Cone v. Longmont Hosp. Ass'n, 14 F.3d 526, 531 (10th Cir.1994). Instead, a plaintiff must demonstrate that a nexus exists between the discriminatory comments to be admitted and the allegedly discriminatory actions to be proven. Id. Even comments by a supervisor involved in the allegedly discriminatory actions are not admissible unless connected to the discriminatory actions themselves. See id. at 531-32 (holding that statement of supervisor involved in allegedly discriminatory termination was not admissible as there was no connection between the statement and the termination). 24 Touchet was permitted to testify at trial--over Halliburton's objection--that Joe McCalla told him to terminate, or pressure into resigning, another employee who was over 40, because he was too old. 6 Appellant App. at 243-44. Touchet attempts to provide the necessary nexus between McCalla's comments and Touchet's demotion and transfer by pointing to evidence of: 1) animus between McCalla and Touchet; 2) other ageist comments by McCalla to Harkins; and 3) McCalla's prior supervision of Travis Burke (Burke), one of the supervisor's involved in the decision to demote and transfer Touchet. However, none of these allegations--even if all true--provide the necessary nexus between the comments and the actions complained of. 25 McCalla himself was dead at the time the decision was made to demote and transfer Touchet. Thus, the relevance of any comments by McCalla is limited to any effect McCalla may have had on the decision makers prior to his death. Any animus between McCalla and Touchet is irrelevant in any case if it does not relate to age. In addition, there is no evidence that McCalla passed on any ageist attitudes or practices to the employees who made the decisions affecting Touchet. In short, there is no evidence of any kind indicating that Joe McCalla had any effect on the decision to demote and transfer Touchet or on the individuals who made that decision. In the clear absence of such a connection, the district court abused its discretion in admitting the evidence. 26 Touchet argues however that, even if the testimony was admitted in error, the error was harmless because there was other testimony establishing the same premise--that Halliburton discriminated against older employees. In determining whether an error is harmless, we assess the likelihood that the error affect[ed] the substantial rights of the parties. U.S. Indus., Inc. v. Touche Ross & Co., 854 F.2d 1223, 1252 (10th Cir.1988) (quoting 28 U.S.C. 2111). In a civil case, we must determine whether the verdict, more probably than not, was untainted by the error. Id. If so, then the error is harmless and retrial is unnecessary. Id. 27 In support of his argument that the testimony at issue did not substantially affect the judgment, Touchet points out other testimony by himself, Appellant App. at 245-46, 327-28, K.P. Campbell, Id. at 334, and Harkins, Id. at 427, 433, establishing that Halliburton supervisors told them to hire younger employees rather than older ones. While this other testimony relates only to discriminatory hiring--rather than termination--practices, we believe that the overall weight of evidence of age based discrimination by Halliburton was sufficient that, more probably than not, the jury verdict was not affected by Touchet's testimony as to McCalla's comments. We, therefore, hold that the district court's error in admitting the testimony was harmless. We must now determine whether Touchet's evidence--without the inadmissible testimony regarding McCalla's comments--was sufficient to justify submission to a jury. 28