Opinion ID: 797952
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 4

Heading: Jury instructions as to Ammons-Lewis's harassment claims

Text: 31 Finally, Ammons-Lewis objects to the jury instructions that outlined what she needed to show in order to establish a hostile working environment and to render the District liable to her for the hostile environment. Ammons-Lewis asserted two related but distinct claims of harassment: the first based on alleged harassment by her co-workers, and the second based on harassment allegedly perpetrated by Stephen Kelly, whom she alleged constituted one of the District's supervisory employees. The claims were distinct in that the standard for employer liability differs depending on whether the perpetrator of the harassment was a co-worker or a supervisor. See Erickson v. Wis. Dep't of Corrections, 469 F.3d 600, 604 (7th Cir.2006) (The standard for supervisors is strict liability and the standard for co-workers is negligence.) (citations omitted); Cerros v. Steel Tech's, Inc., 398 F.3d 944, 951-52 (7th Cir.2005). 32 The instructions given to the jury acknowledged this distinction, but rather than giving the jury an entirely separate set of instructions for each of the two claims, the court first advised the jury of the elements, applicable to both claims, that Ammons-Lewis would have to meet in order to establish actionable sexual harassment. Specifically, the jury was advised that Ammons-Lewis had to show by a preponderance of the evidence that (1) she was subjected to pornography, sexually-oriented drawings, sexually-oriented verbal comments, and physical contact that had a sexual character or purpose, (2) this conduct was unwelcome, (3) the conduct occurred because Ammons-Lewis was a woman, (4) Ammons-Lewis believed that the conduct rendered her work environment hostile or abusive, and (5) the conduct was sufficiently severe or pervasive that a reasonable person in her position likewise would have found the workplace hostile or abusive. R. 96 at 19-20. The instruction admonished the jury to consider the conduct of Ammons-Lewis's supervisors as well as her co-workers in deciding whether she had met these elements. Id. at 19. In the event the jury determined that Ammons-Lewis had not met all five of the elements outlined, it was instructed to render a verdict in favor of the District on both of her claims. Id. at 20. If, on the other hand, it found that she had met each of the five elements of a hostile environment, the jury was advised to proceed onward and consider whether the District was liable to Ammons-Lewis for the acts of sexual harassment she had alleged. Id. 33 When it instructed the jury on the rules governing employer liability, the court alerted the jury to the distinction between liability based on the acts of co-workers and liability based on the acts of supervisors. An employer's liability for a sexually hostile work environment depends on whether the person(s) who did the acts that created the hostile work environment were co-workers or supervisors of the plaintiff. For this reason, I will give you separate instructions relating to conduct by co-workers and conduct by supervisors. Id. at 21. The court advised the jury that if Ammons-Lewis had shown that Kelly had supervisory authority over her, it should consult a separate instruction setting forth the standard for employer liability based on the conduct of a supervisor. Id. at 21; see id. at 23-24. The jury was advised to consult a different instruction on liability for co-worker harassment in the event it determined that Kelly was not Ammons-Lewis's supervisor. Id. at 21; see id. at 22. That instruction set forth the standard for employer liability based on the conduct of one's co-workers. Id. 34 The jury was given a verdict form calling for separate verdicts as to Claim One (co-worker harassment) and Claim Two (harassment by Kelly). The portion of the form concerning Claim Two posed two inquiries to the jury. First, the jury was asked whether Kelly had supervisory responsibility over Ammons-Lewis. If the jury answered no to that inquiry, it was instructed to stop there. But if it answered yes to that question, it was told to indicate whether the District was liable for any harassment allegedly perpetrated by Kelly. Id. at 30. 35 The verdict form as completed by the jury at the conclusion of its deliberations reflected a verdict in favor of the District as to Claim One but no answer as to either of the questions regarding Claim Two. R. 129-10 at 1517, 1518. Without objection from the parties, the court admonished the jurors that they must determine whether Kelly was Ammons-Lewis's supervisor and report a finding in that regard; depending on their answer, they might then have to address the second question as well. Id. at 1519-20. The jury then retired to resume deliberations. Shortly thereafter, the jury sent a note to the court indicating that it had not answered Claim Two because it was under the impression that it need not do so if it concluded that Ammons-Lewis had not established the five elements of a hostile environment. Id. at 1525. At that point, the court instructed the jury that if indeed it had concluded that Ammons-Lewis had not proven conduct constituting sexual harassment, then it need not report a finding as to whether Kelly was her supervisor, but it should indicate whether the District was liable to Ammons-Lewis based on Kelly's alleged conduct. Id. at 1526. If, however, its finding was that Ammons-Lewis had satisfied the five criteria for a hostile environment, then it must render and report a finding as to whether Kelly amounted to her supervisor. Id. The jury subsequently completed the verdict form by reporting a verdict in favor of the District on Claim Two. Id. at 1527. 36 Ammons-Lewis contends that the jury's initial failure to report a verdict as to Claim Two evidences the confusing and inadequate nature of the jury instructions. As we have mentioned, it is her contention on appeal that the instructions should have drawn a clearer line between the two claims, providing entirely separate sets of instructions as to each. 37 Ammons-Lewis did not object below to the form or content of the relevant jury instructions, but Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 51(d)(2) now allows for plain error review of the instructions; in that respect, it represents an exception to the general rule that plain error review is unavailable in civil cases. See Schmitz v. Canadian Pacific Ry. Co., 454 F.3d 678, 684 n. 3 (7th Cir.2006); Higbee v. Sentry Ins. Co., supra, 440 F.3d at 409. Generally, we review jury instructions to determine whether those instructions completely and accurately informed the jury of the relevant legal principles. E.g., Schmitz, 454 F.3d at 681-82; Knox v. Indiana, 93 F.3d 1327, 1332 (7th Cir.1996). In making that determination, we examine the instructions as a whole rather than in isolation from one another. See id.; Byrd v. Ill. Dep't of Public Health, 423 F.3d 696, 705 (7th Cir.2005). We will reverse only if we are convinced that an inaccuracy or omission in the instructions' statement of the law misled or confused the jury to the prejudice of the appellant. Schmitz, 454 F.3d at 682; Byrd, 423 F.3d at 705. When our review is for plain error, as it is here, the standard is obviously higher. Plain error demands a showing not only that an error occurred which, in retrospect, is obvious, but also that the error, among other things, affected the substantial rights of the appellant. Rule 51(d)(2); see generally Johnson v. United States, 520 U.S. 461, 466-67, 117 S.Ct. 1544, 1548-49, 137 L.Ed.2d 718 (1997); see also Higbee, 440 F.3d at 409. 38 We find no plain error in the jury instructions warranting relief. Although the jury evidenced some confusion in completing the verdict form, the likely source of the confusion lay in the form itself rather than the jury instructions. The instructions reflected a true and complete summary of the relevant law, recognized the distinction between employer liability for the conduct of coworkers and liability for the conduct of supervisors, and gave the jury an accurate roadmap to follow in applying the law to the two different claims. The note that the jury sent to the court explaining that it did not believe it needed to assess Kelly's status as a supervisor or coworker in the event it determined that Ammons-Lewis had not presented sufficient proof of actionable sexual harassment suggests that the jury understood the court's instructions correctly and simply did not realize it was obliged to report a verdict as to Claim Two even if it believed that sexual harassment had not been proven. The court took appropriate action — to which Ammons-Lewis did not object — to correct the jury's misunderstanding on this score. We have no reason to believe that the jury's verdict as to either of the two sexual harassment claims was the product of confusion or a misunderstanding of the law.