Opinion ID: 579280
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: Evidence of Groundwater Contamination.

Text: 31 American Colloid further contends that the trial court erred in permitting testimony relating to allegations of groundwater contamination at a company facility. The company suggests that this evidence lacked relevance and prejudiced the jury. Durtsche responds that this evidence was not irrelevant because it was used to show the company's unjustified motive in firing him. Under Fed.R.Evid. 403, relevant evidence may be excluded if its probative value is substantially outweighed by the danger of unfair prejudice, confusion of the issues, or misleading the jury. The trial court is given broad discretion in the Rule 403 balancing analysis. United States v. Harrison, 942 F.2d 751, 759 (10th Cir.1991); United States v. Jenkins, 904 F.2d 549, 555 (10th Cir.), cert. denied, --- U.S. ----, 111 S.Ct. 395, 112 L.Ed.2d 404 (1990). 32 Durtsche testified that five months before he was terminated he told Lawrence Washow, his superior and the person who fired him, that he believed there had been groundwater contamination several years earlier at a subsidiary facility adjacent to the Lovell plant. Durtsche contended that this incident irritated Washow and led him to recommend Durtsche be let go. The company asserts that Durtsche's testimony was wholly inflammatory, in that it led the jury to focus on American Colloid as a bad company because of the contamination and subsequent testimony regarding the death of a herd of cattle. 33 The primary issue at trial was whether American Colloid had just cause to terminate Durtsche. Evidence that management was unhappy that Durtsche had reported a potential environmental problem was central to his ability to rebut the company's contention that it fired him for economic reasons. Our review of the record indicates that there was only brief reference to the contamination and the death of the herd of cattle. For evidence of the contamination to have been unduly prejudicial, the jury would have had to place great focus on these short passages. The context of these statements indicates this was unlikely. Therefore, we conclude that the trial court's decision to admit the testimony concerning groundwater contamination was not an abuse of discretion under Fed.R.Evid. 403. 34