Opinion ID: 624286
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: sufficiency of the evidence

Text: Although I am not dissenting from the panel decision affirming the verdict that Sloan retaliated against Jones for filing a workers' compensation claim, the evidentiary support for the verdict is thin. My particular concern is the element of causationthat is, whether Sloan's misconduct was motivated by Jones's having filed a workers' compensation claim. The majority opinion agrees with Jones that causation is shown by the close temporal proximity between the filing of [his] workers' compensation claim ... and the onset of UPS's retaliatory conduct against [him]. Op. at 1197 (internal quotation marks omitted); see id. at 1197-98. But Jones filed his workers' compensation claim by mid-November 2003, and there is no allegation of any wrongdoing by Sloan before she received Dr. Legler's report of his February 9, 2004, examinationa temporal proximity of about three months. Our precedents suggests that this is too long a period from which to infer causation absent other evidence. See Trujillo v. PacifiCorp, 524 F.3d 1149, 1157 n. 5 (10th Cir.2008) (collecting cases). The majority makes no attempt to distinguish those precedents; although it sets forth evidence that Sloan engaged in misconduct, it does not explain how that misconduct suggests that the motive for the misconduct was retaliation for filing the workers' compensation claim. Still, out of great deference to the jury, I can accept the verdict on liability. But that is as far as deference can take me. It is one thing to say that the jury, based upon all the evidence at trial, could infer under a preponderance-of-the-evidence standardthat Sloan was acting in retaliation for Jones's having filed a compensation claim. It is quite another to say that the jury could inferunder a clear-and-convincing standardnot only that Jones was retaliating but also that Lewick (1) knew that Sloan had engaged in misconduct, (2) knew that Sloan's motive was retaliation for the workers' compensation claim, and (3) approved of and ratified both the misconduct and the motive. The evidence relied on by the majority opinion is inadequate to support the necessary inference. As labor manager for UPS, Lewick handled 35 to 50 grievances per week. Jones's first grievance contended that he should be returned to work because both his personal physician and a UPS physician, Dr. Legler, had released him to return to work. Dr. Legler, however, had amended the release and imposed permanent restrictions. Under the collective-bargaining agreement (CBA) between UPS and the Teamsters Union, the parties are to agree on a third doctor to perform an examination when the personal physician and the UPS physician disagree. The arbitration panel provided by the CBA heard Jones's grievance and adopted Lewick's position, ordering the parties to enter the third-doctor procedure. Lewick and the Union representative both struck names from a list of doctors, ultimately selecting Dr. Buck. Lewick testified that once the doctor is selected, UPS is to arrange an appointment for the employee to see the doctor, but is not to communicate anything about what the doctor is supposed to do. Up to the time of Dr. Buck's examination of Jones, there is no evidence that Lewick knew of any wrongdoing by Sloan, so he could hardly have ratified it. After Dr. Buck issued his report, Jones filed another grievance, this time complaining that UPS had improperly interfered with the third-doctor procedure by refusing to authorize Dr. Buck to order a functional-capacity examination (FCE). When Lewick received the grievance, he contacted Sloan because he was concerned about the failure to approve an FCE. He testified that Sloan told him that she had simply informed Dr. Buck that there had been an earlier FCE. In any event, Jones's second grievance was upheld by the arbitration panel, and a second third-doctor exam was ordered. The selection of Dr. Buck to conduct the second examination was not preordained. According to Lewick's testimony, the parties did not strike names from a list on the second goround because the Union business agent told Lewick that Jones requested Dr. Buck. There is no evidence that Lewick authorized or ratified Sloan's conversation with Dr. Buck by anything he said or did during the second grievance proceeding. What the majority opinion relies on for ratification is Lewick's instruction to Sloan not to talk to Dr. Buck before he conducted his second examination of Jones, four months after the first examination. The majority's theory is that a rational jury could infer that Lewick wanted Dr. Buck to continue to be misinformed about what he could do. In my view, however, a rational jury could not draw that inference by clear and convincing evidence. [1] The jury was instructed that [t]o be clear and convincing, evidence should be `clear' in the sense that it is certain, plain to the understanding, and unambiguous, and `convincing' in the sense that it is so reasonable and persuasive as to cause you to believe it. Aplt. App., Vol. I at 136 (Doc. 145, Instruction No. 13). There is nothing certain, plain to the understanding, or unambiguous about the inference that Lewick wished Dr. Buck to be misinformed. To begin with, there is no evidence to contradict, or undermine in any way, Lewick's testimony that he believed the third-doctor procedure prohibited any communication by UPS to the doctor except to set an appointment. Moreover, one would expect Jones to inform Dr. Buck of the reason for the repeated visitSloan's improperly telling Dr. Buck not to order a functional evaluation. Silence by UPS would therefore mean that Dr. Buck would hear only from Jones what the purpose of the examination was and why it was ordered. Indeed, it is baffling why Jones did not so inform Dr. Buck. Perhaps one could speculate that Lewick was so clever and insightful that he predicted that Jones would not explain his visit to Dr. Buck and that Dr. Buck would not make any further inquiry. But no rational person could find that this was plainly, certainly, or unambiguously Lewick's plan. I should add that the theory expressed in the majority opinion (that Lewick ratified Sloan's retaliation by telling her not to contact Dr. Bush) was not raised by Jones at trial or in his appellate briefs. In sum, I would reverse the award of punitive damages.