Opinion ID: 755554
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: defendants' request for judgment as a matter of law

Text: 35 The ADEA prohibits an employer from, inter alia, discharg[ing] any individual over the age of 40 because of such individual's age. See 29 U.S.C. §§ 623(a)(1), 631. The Act provides for an award of double damages if the violation was willful. See id. §§ 626(b), 216. Defendants contend that they are entitled to judgment as a matter of law because the evidence at trial was insufficient to support the jury's findings (1) that Kirsch was discharged, (2) that the discharge was because of his age, and (3) that their violation of the ADEA was willful. The first two challenges are without merit; the third is not properly before us. 36 The standard governing decisions of, and appeals from decisions of, motions for judgment as a matter of law under Fed.R.Civ.P. 50 (JMOL) is well established. See generally Galdieri-Ambrosini v. National Realty Development Corp., 136 F.3d 276, 289 (2d Cir.1998) (same standard governs in district court and on appeal). JMOL is inappropriate unless the evidence, viewed in the light most favorable to the opposing party, is insufficient to permit a reasonable juror to find in his favor. See, e.g., id.; Sir Speedy, Inc. v. L & P Graphics, Inc., 957 F.2d 1033, 1039 (2d Cir.1992); Vasbinder v. Ambach, 926 F.2d 1333, 1339 (2d Cir.1991). In assessing such a motion, the court is not allowed to weigh the credibility of witnesses or consider the weight of the evidence. See, e.g., id. at 1340. JMOL should not be granted unless 37 (1) there is such a complete absence of evidence supporting the verdict that the jury's findings could only have been the result of sheer surmise and conjecture, or (2) there is such an overwhelming amount of evidence in favor of the movant that reasonable and fair minded [persons] could not arrive at a verdict against [it]. 38 Cruz v. Local Union No. 3 of the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, 34 F.3d 1148, 1154 (2d Cir.1994) (Cruz v. Local Union No. 3 ) (internal quotation marks omitted); see Gibeau v. Nellis, 18 F.3d 107, 109 (2d Cir.1994). 39
40 The discharge element of an ADEA claim may be either an actual termination of the plaintiff's employment by the employer or a constructive discharge. See, e.g., Stetson v. NYNEX Service Co., 995 F.2d 355, 360 (2d Cir.1993); Pena v. Brattleboro Retreat, 702 F.2d 322, 325 (2d Cir.1983). A plaintiff may prove a constructive discharge by establishing that his employer, rather than acting directly, deliberately ma[de his] working conditions so intolerable that [he was] forced into an involuntary resignation, i.e., so difficult or unpleasant that a reasonable person in the employee's shoes would have felt compelled to resign. Id. at 325 (internal quotation marks omitted); see Stetson v. NYNEX Service Co., 995 F.2d at 360-61. 41 In the present case, Kirsch was earning a salary of $60,000 in May 1991 and was entitled to a 2% override on sales to his customers in excess of $2 million. At the end of May, Fleet Street informed Kirsch that it was cutting his salary to less than 45% of what he had been earning, i.e., from $60,000 to $26,000. Further, the company informed Kirsch that it was taking the Stern's account from him; since Stern's had accounted for 40-45% of Kirsch's sales, this essentially ended Kirsch's prospects for additional earnings through his override. The jury was free to infer that the reduction of compensation, from $60,000 plus override, to $26,000 without override, constituted a condition so difficult that a reasonable person in Kirsch's shoes would have felt compelled to resign. 42 In addition, there was sufficient evidence to permit the jury to infer that defendants' creation of that intolerable condition was deliberate. Although defendants point to testimony by Manny Haber that he and the company never intended to force Kirsch to leave, that argument goes to the weight of the evidence, not its sufficiency. The jury was entitled to reject Manny's self-serving testimony, as it apparently did. The evidence to support a finding that defendants intended to force Kirsch to leave Fleet Street included not only the severity of the reduction in compensation itself and Kirsch's (uncontroverted) testimony that Alan Haber nodded in response to Kirsch's statement that the company was trying to force him to leave. It also included Kedrus's testimony as to Manny Haber's prediction, made weeks before Kirsch was informed of the intolerable reduction in his pay, that Kirsch would soon no longer be with the company. 43 The district court properly ruled that the evidence was sufficient to permit a rational juror to infer that Kirsch was the victim of a constructive discharge. 44
45 A plaintiff may prove that his discharge was because of his age, 29 U.S.C. § 623(a)(1), by showing that his age played a motivating role in, or contributed to, the employer's decision. Renz v. Grey Advertising, Inc., 135 F.3d 217, 222 (2d Cir.1997); see, e.g., Stratton v. Department for the Aging for the City of New York, 132 F.3d 869, 878 (2d Cir.1997); Ostrowski v. Atlantic Mutual Insurance Companies, 968 F.2d 171, 180 (2d Cir.1992). He may prove that the forbidden animus 'was a motivating factor' through the presentation of either 'direct' or 'circumstantial' evidence. Id. at 181-82 (quoting Tyler v. Bethlehem Steel Corp., 958 F.2d 1176, 1186 (2d Cir.), cert. denied, 506 U.S. 826, 113 S.Ct. 82, 121 L.Ed.2d 46 (1992)). 46 Where the plaintiff has presented evidence sufficient to support an inference of impermissible discrimination and the employer has presented evidence sufficient to permit the inference of a permissible motive, the jury should be instructed that, if it finds that a discriminatory motivation was present, the burden of proof shifts to the defendant to show that the same action would have been taken for the permissible reason alone, and hence was not taken because of the unlawful animus, see, e.g., Price Waterhouse v. Hopkins, 490 U.S. 228, 244-45, 109 S.Ct. 1775, 104 L.Ed.2d 268 (1989) (plurality opinion); id. at 259-60, 109 S.Ct. 1775 (White, J., concurring); Ostrowski v. Atlantic Mutual Insurance Companies, 968 F.2d at 182. 47 In Ostrowski, we noted that if the plaintiff seeks this Price Waterhouse burden-shifting instruction and his proof as to the employer's discriminatory animus is purely circumstantial, 48 that circumstantial evidence must be tied directly to the alleged discriminatory animus. For example, purely statistical evidence would not warrant such a charge; nor would evidence merely of the plaintiff's qualification for and the availability of a given position; nor would stray remarks in the workplace by persons who are not involved in the pertinent decisionmaking process.... If, however, the plaintiff's nonstatistical evidence is directly tied to the forbidden animus, for example policy documents or statements of a person involved in the decisionmaking process that reflect a discriminatory or retaliatory animus of the type complained of in the suit, that plaintiff is entitled to a burden-shifting instruction. 49 Id. at 182. In Tyler v. Bethlehem Steel Corp., for example, we cited the proof that younger employees had received favorable treatment while the plaintiff had not, that the company had an approved category of employees called the  'Young Tiger' classification, and that company appraisals specifically referred to  'youth' in a positive manner as among the evidence that warranted a burden-shifting charge. 958 F.2d at 1179, 1187. In sum, the plaintiff is entitled to the Price Waterhouse burden-shifting instruction where the evidence is sufficient to allow a trier to find both forbidden and permissible motives. Ostrowski v. Atlantic Mutual Insurance Companies, 968 F.2d at 181. 50 Defendants in the present case contend that Kirsch did not present sufficient evidence to permit an inference of discrimination because he presented only proof of stray remarks. The record does not support this contention. First, the statements directly mentioning the youth or anticipated youth of the company's sales force were not made by random coworkers who were uninvolved in the decisionmaking process. Rather, they were made by Steven Haber, who was a sales manager, officer, and director of the company. At least one of the statements was made at the behest of Manny Haber, the company's president, and there was ample evidence that Steven himself was one of the company's decisionmakers. For example, Manny Haber's testimony indicated that in 1990, when the company changed the form of Kirsch's compensation from commissions to the $60,000 salary, the decision was made by Manny, Alan, and Steven. 51 Moreover, the context in which Steven's statements were made suggested that they could not be considered stray. His statement to Kirsch, You better watch your ass. If you look around, you see all young people (First Tr. 94), was made at a sales meeting and directly indicated that age was, and would likely continue to be, a factor in the company's determination of the makeup of its sales force. Further, that statement could reasonably be viewed as revealing an ingredient in the company's 1987 decision to discharge six road reps, all of whom were over the age of 50, shortly after Steven became sales manager. Plainly, the warning by Steven, a decisionmaker, to Kirsch, a man in his 60's, to watch your ass .... you see all young people may permissibly be construed as a company threat that Kirsch was vulnerable to being replaced by a younger person because of his age, rather than as a stray remark. 52 In this appeal, defendants also argue that that statement was made by Steven in 1987 and was too remote from the time of Kirsch's discharge to be relevant. The record does not support their assertion that Steven (who, though apparently in attendance at the trial, did not testify) made the statement in 1987 rather than closer to the time of Kirsch's discharge. The trial transcript indicates that when Kirsch described the incident, defendants and the trial judge viewed him as stating that Steven made the statement at the age of 19, which would place the incident in 1987. The testimony, however, suggests that the statement was made later than 1987, for Kirsch testified that in response to Steven's statement, Kirsch looked around, saw that he was indeed the only person who was not young, and remembered the 1987 terminations of all of the other road reps who were over the age of 50 (First Tr. 94). And when the court, later in the trial, asked just when the watch your ass .... you see all young people statement by Steven was made, defense counsel responded, The testimony is unclear. At some point in '87, '88, or '89. (First Tr. 809.) Further, another Fleet Street employee testified that, based on its occurrence in a facility not occupied by the company before 1989, he recalled Steven's reference to the youth of the sales force as having occurred in 1989 or later. The record thus does not require the conclusion that Steven's first statement was too remote from the time Kirsch was discharged to be relevant. 53 Moreover, Steven's additional statement that the company was interested in new younger vision, new younger blood (First Tr. 728) was made during the company's interviews of Kedrus in the spring of 1991, close to the time of Kirsch's discharge. Indeed, during the same interviews Manny revealed that he expected Kirsch to leave the company before Kedrus arrived. Further, in expressing this younger blood interest, Steven was the designated company spokesman, for when Kedrus inquired about Fleet Street's personnel and strategies, Manny referred the question to Steven. Given this background, Steven's response that the company wanted younger blood plainly was not a stray remark but represented the official company position. 54 In sum, the evidence supporting Kirsch's claim that his age was a factor in his discharge, taken in the light most favorable to Kirsch as the party against whom judgment as a matter of law was sought, included the 1987 firings of six road sales representatives all of whom were over the age of 50; the statement by company officer Steven Haber to Kirsch, in 1989 or later, to watch your ass. If you look around, you see all young people; the statement by Steven at the behest of Manny Haber, the company's president, just weeks prior to Kirsch's discharge, that the company was interested in having younger blood; and the statement by Manny Haber in the course of the same interviews, indicating that Kirsch would soon no longer be with the company. A rational juror could permissibly infer from this evidence that age was a factor in Kirsch's discharge and that, but for his age, Kirsch would not have been discharged. 55 Defendants' efforts to suggest alternative, nondiscriminatory interpretations of Steven's references to the youth of the sales staff and to company goals of younger vision and younger blood are arguments more properly addressed to the jury than to this Court. The jury was free to reject defendants' suggested interpretations, and we may not overturn the jury's own reasonable interpretations or its credibility assessments. The district court properly ruled that the evidence was sufficient to permit a rational juror to infer that Kirsch was the victim of discrimination on the basis of his age. 56
57 Finally, defendants contend that there was no evidence to support the jury's finding that their ADEA violation was willful, i.e., that they knew or showed reckless disregard for the matter of whether [their] conduct was prohibited by the statute, Trans World Airlines, Inc. v. Thurston, 469 U.S. 111, 126, 105 S.Ct. 613, 83 L.Ed.2d 523 (1985) (internal quotation marks omitted). This contention, however, was not properly preserved at trial. 58 It is well established that a party is not entitled to challenge on appeal the sufficiency of the evidence to support the jury's verdict on a given issue unless it has timely moved in the district court for judgment as a matter of law on that issue. See, e.g., Galdieri-Ambrosini v. National Realty Development Corp., 136 F.3d at 287. Such a motion must be made before submission of the case to the jury. Fed.R.Civ.P. 50(a)(2). Since the purpose of requiring that the motion be made before submission of the case to the jury is to give the claimant a fair opportunity to cure the defects in proof, Piesco v. Koch, 12 F.3d 332, 340 (2d Cir.1993) (internal quotation marks omitted); see, e.g., Baskin v. Hawley, 807 F.2d 1120, 1134 (2d Cir.1986); Fed.R.Civ.P. 50 Advisory Committee Note (1991), the motion must at least identify the specific element that the defendant contends is insufficiently supported. Galdieri-Ambrosini v. National Realty & Development Corp., 136 F.3d at 286. For the same reason, although a motion for JMOL may be renew[ed] after the jury returns its verdict, see Fed.R.Civ.P. 50(a)(2), it may be renewed only on grounds that were specifically articulated before submission of the case to the jury, see, e.g., Galdieri-Ambrosini v. National Realty Development Corp., 136 F.3d at 286; McCardle v. Haddad, 131 F.3d 43, 51 (2d Cir.1997). 59 As to any issue on which no proper Rule 50(b) motion was made, JMOL may not properly be granted by the district court, or upheld on appeal, or ordered by the appellate court unless that action is required in order to prevent manifest injustice. See, e.g., Galdieri-Ambrosini v. National Realty Development Corp., 136 F.3d at 287; Cruz v. Local Union No. 3, 34 F.3d at 1155; Lambert v. Genesee Hospital, 10 F.3d 46, 53-54 (2d Cir.1993), cert. denied, 511 U.S. 1052, 114 S.Ct. 1612, 128 L.Ed.2d 339 (1994); Samuels v. Air Transport Local 504, 992 F.2d 12, 14 (2d Cir.1993). 60 In the present case, defendants' JMOL motions during the first trial challenged the evidence of discrimination and constructive discharge, and raised certain other issues not pertinent here; but they did not mention any lack of proof as to willfulness. Although their posttrial motion challenged the evidence as to willfulness, that challenge was not authorized by Rule 50(b) because no JMOL motion had been made on that issue before submission of the case to the jury. Accordingly, the willfulness issue has not been properly preserved. 61 Nor do we see that relieving defendants of their procedural default is needed to avoid injustice. The jury permissibly found that Fleet Street intentionally discharged Kirsch because of his age and that defendants sought to conceal their age-based motivation by proffering a pretextual rationale of corporate financial exigency. Defendants have not suggested that they had any good faith basis for believing their conduct did not fall within the scope of the ADEA, and had defendants raised the issue at trial, it may be that Kirsch would have been able to present additional evidence to show that defendants knew, or recklessly disregarded the matter of whether, their conduct was prohibited by the ADEA. We decline to entertain defendants' present challenge to the sufficiency of the evidence of willfulness.