Opinion ID: 198518
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 4

Heading: Alleged Evidentiary Errors and the Whistleblower Claim

Text: 53 Lynch asserts that the district court made three evidentiary rulings that deprived her of a fair trial with regard to her state law whistleblower claim. 13 We review the district court's evidentiary rulings for abuse of discretion. See Acosta-Mestre v. Hilton Intern. of Puerto Rico, 156 F.3d 49, 57 (1st Cir.1998). In the event we discern error, we must determine whether the error was harmless. Our inquiry is whether [exclusion or admission] of the evidence affected plaintiff's substantial rights. Vincent v. Louis Marx & Co., Inc., 874 F.2d 36, 41 (1st Cir.1989). See also Fed.R.Civ.P. 61. The central question is whether this court 'can say with fair assurance ... that the judgment was not substantially swayed by the error.'  Lubanski v. Coleco Indus., Inc., 929 F.2d 42, 46 (1st Cir.1991) (citations omitted). 54 Lynch first assails the district court's refusal to honor a pretrial stipulation entered into by the parties. The stipulation purported to allow the authors of letters written by Lynch's supporters in the community to Mayor Menino that attested to Lynch's exemplary work as Can Share coordinator to read their letters to the jury, although the letters themselves were not to be admitted in evidence and given to the jury. Lynch asserts that the district court's refusal to honor the parties' stipulation prevented her from demonstrating to the jury that defendants failed to hire her for the Staff Assistant II position not because she was unqualified, but for pretextual reasons. 55 The stipulation with respect to the letters was not, as Lynch asserts, an agreement of the parties as to certain facts that were not disputed. Nor was it an agreement concerning the authenticity or admissibility of the letters themselves. Such agreements are generally favored by trial courts because they expedite trials. See 22 C. Wright & K. Graham, Federal Practice and Procedure: Evidence § 5194 (1978), at 195 (Where the effect of the stipulation is to eliminate the need for proof of a particular point or debate over the admissibility of certain evidence, enforcement of the stipulation can ... be justified in terms of judicial efficiency.). Rather, the parties proposed to dictate to the trial court the procedure by which evidence would be presented to the jury. The district court rejected the parties' stipulation because, inter alia, it determined that to allow the witnesses to read the content of the letters verbatim and, thus, effectively admit their content for all purposes, but not permit the jury to receive the letters and consider their contents during deliberations other than by way of the jurors' memories or notes, would cause undue confusion for the jury. Instead, the district court ruled that Lynch could offer the letters for admission and the court would admit or exclude them in accordance with the Federal Rules of Evidence. The court then heard and rejected arguments advanced by Lynch as to why the letters should be admitted in evidence. These rulings as to specific letters' admissibility were not appealed. 56 While the district judge could certainly have allowed the letters to be read as provided in the stipulation, the manner in which evidence is received at trial is a matter within the sound discretion of the trial court. See United States v. Passos-Paternina, 918 F.2d 979, 986 (1st Cir.1990) (district court has discretion in matters relating to the orderly conduct of the trial and the mode of presenting evidence). The district court believed that to allow each author to read the letter verbatim, but then to preclude the jury from reviewing the letters during their deliberations, would needlessly confuse the jury. We are reluctant to second-guess a determination of this nature, and cannot say that the district court's decision to reject the parties' stipulated procedure in favor of a letter-by-letter determination of admissibility amounted to an abuse of discretion. 57 Lynch's substantial rights were, in any case, unaffected by the court's ruling. The authors of the letters testified at trial concerning such matters as Lynch's phenomenal networking skills and their perception that Lynch did exceptional work at Can Share. They conveyed what the letters would have conveyed, their good opinion of Lynch's qualifications relative to the Staff Assistant II position. It is difficult to see how rejection of the stipulated procedure, even were it to have exceeded the court's discretion, was other than harmless. 58 Next, Lynch asserts that the district court erred when it precluded Michael Devlin, who had worked extensively with Lynch on the Can Share program, from answering the following question: In the time that you worked in the Can Share program, who would you say was responsible for the success and growth the program had? Lynch argues that this lay opinion testimony would have supported her claim under the Massachusetts Whistleblower Statute that she was qualified for the Staff Assistant II position and was denied the position for pretextual reasons. The district court precluded Devlin from rendering his opinion regarding who was responsible for the growth and success of the Can Share program on the grounds that (1) Devlin was not competent to render the opinion, and (2) Lynch had failed to persuade the court that the opinion sought pertained to an appropriate subject for opinion testimony by a lay witness. 59 Rule 701 of the Federal Rules of Evidence permits the rendering of lay opinion testimony when such testimony is (a) rationally based upon the perception of the witness, and (b) helpful to a clear understanding of the witness' testimony or the determination of a fact in issue. 60 Here Devlin's opinion would have cleared the first hurdle, that the opinion was based on the personal perception of the witness. See, e.g., United States v. Paiva, 892 F.2d 148, 156-57 (1st Cir.1989). Devlin was competent, to use the district court's term, to testify concerning the success and growth of Can Share during the period in which he and Lynch worked together based upon his personal observation of Lynch's work. We also conclude that Devlin's opinion concerning the growth and success of Can Share would have been rationally based upon his perception of Lynch's work, in the sense that no irrational leaps of logic would have been required in order for Devlin to render the rather straightforward opinion Lynch sought to elicit. 61 Even though rationally based on the witness's personal perception, lay opinion testimony will be excluded if it is not helpful to the trier of fact. See Fed.R.Evid. 701. Lay opinions are not helpful when the jury can readily draw the necessary inferences and conclusions without the aid of the opinion. See 7 J. Wigmore, Wigmore on Evidence §§ 1917-18 (lay opinions are superfluous when the jury, unaided by opinion, can draw the necessary inferences as effectively as the witness). Accordingly, the Rule vests considerable discretion in the trial court in determining whether the jury will be aided by lay opinion testimony. See 4 J. Weinstein, Weinstein's Federal Evidence p 701 (2d ed.1998). 62 Here, as Lynch herself points out, Devlin testified at some length concerning his personal observation of Lynch's excellent organizational skills, her proficiency at long-term program planning, her phenomenal ability to recruit participants from the business community, her incredible motivational skills, and her ability to communicate clearly. Devlin testified that Lynch's ability to recruit in the business community brought in a lot of people to take part in the campaign fully. Contrary to Lynch's assertion that the jury could not determine how effective plaintiff was in her job without Devlin's lay opinion, the jury, unaided by Devlin's opinion, could readily have drawn the inference from Devlin's detailed factual account of Lynch's exceptional work at Can Share that Lynch was quite effective in her position and was responsible for the success and growth of the Can Share program during the time she and Devlin worked together. Compare United States v. Jackman, 48 F.3d 1, 5-6 (1st Cir.1995) (witness's testimony identifying defendant from surveillance photographs admitted since jury not in as good position as witness to determine identity). Hence the district court may well have believed--in finding the opinion not to pertain to an appropriate subject for lay opinion testimony--that it would simply not be helpful. In any event, even assuming error in refusing to admit the opinion, the error would be harmless given the considerable body of testimony that was admitted pointing in the same direction. 63 Finally, Lynch asserts that the district court erred in excluding certain testimony by her expert witness, Ellen Bassuk, M.D. Under the Massachusetts Whistleblower Statute, Lynch had to demonstrate that she had an objectively reasonable basis for her belief that the perceived staffing shortage at the ESC on January 12, 1994 created a risk to the public health and safety. See Mass.G.L. ch. 149, § 185. Dr. Bassuk testified that the circumstances that existed on January 12, 1994, including the extreme cold and the absence of the ESC staff, created a public health risk that would be potentially life-threatening. Nevertheless, the jury found that Lynch did not have a reasonable belief that the public health or safety was in jeopardy when she made the telephone call. See Lynch, 989 F.Supp. at 302-03. 64 Lynch asserts that the district court erred in excluding testimony by Dr. Bassuk concerning the efficacy of the beeper system used by Cronin and other ESC employees and the availability of brochures that contained information concerning shelters and other services for the homeless. Lynch contends that she offered this testimony to rebut testimony by Cronin to the effect that the homeless were not in danger on January 12, 1994 because the City had a beeper system and brochures were available at the ESC that listed various services for the homeless. The district court excluded Dr. Bassuk's testimony because it was concerned that to allow the parties to litigate the efficacy of the City's beeper system and the content of its written brochures would inject an irrelevant issue into the case--whether the City should have done more to protect the homeless--and would potentially cause a significant increase in the length of the trial. 65 The district court may have gone too far in asserting that Lynch sought to inject an irrelevant issue into the case. Lynch was seeking to counter Cronin's defense, presaged during her testimony, that the availability of the beeper system and the brochures rendered unreasonable Lynch's belief that the public safety was endangered by the lack of staffing at the ESC. But courts have latitude to keep trials on track and to limit the exploration of secondary issues. As the Supreme Court has stated: 66 Within limits, the judge may control the scope of rebuttal testimony, may refuse to allow cumulative, repetitive, or irrelevant testimony, and may control the scope of examination of witnesses. If truth and fairness are not to be sacrificed, the judge must exert substantial control over the proceedings. 67 Geders v. United States, 425 U.S. 80, 86-87, 96 S.Ct. 1330, 47 L.Ed.2d 592 (1976). The district court acted within the appropriate limits here. 68 The district court here did not entirely preclude Dr. Bassuk from rendering her opinion. Dr. Bassuk testified: 69 Q: Let us assume that the director of the city agency in question, regardless of its name, had a beeper or a pager with her while she was out of the agency office on the day in question. would that affect the opinion that you just rendered? 70 A: No, I don't think so. It would naturally depend on the nature of the beeper system, on such things as whether there were protocols that insisted that if you had a beeper, you were called, that you were supposed to respond in a timely way, that there was some kind of system set up for immediate and rapid response. 71 At this point, the district court interrupted and, for the reasons stated, struck that portion of Dr. Bassuk's testimony that came after her answer No, I don't think so. However, Dr. Bassuk had already opined that the circumstances as described on January 12, 1994 created a potentially life-threatening risk, and she was permitted to further state that her opinion would not be affected by the assumption that a beeper system was available to Cronin and members of her staff. The court only interrupted when it appeared that the testimony and further questioning might lead to a mini-trial on the issue of the City's beeper protocol. We find no abuse of discretion. 72 We reach a similar conclusion with regard to the district court's partial exclusion of Dr. Bassuk's testimony concerning the availability at the ESC of brochures that listed various services for the homeless, including soup kitchens and shelters. The district court, again out of a concern that Lynch was attacking the efficacy of the City's services generally, limited Dr. Bassuk to opining only as to whether the listing of any private services in the brochures would alter her opinion concerning the risk to public health. Dr. Bassuk was permitted to respond that the availability of such information would not change her opinion that the public health was in jeopardy on January 12, 1994. The district court did not abuse its discretion in limiting the scope of Dr. Bassuk's testimony concerning brochures. Further, even if the court erred in proceeding in this fashion, the remainder of Dr. Bassuk's testimony rendered any such error harmless. Dr. Bassuk went on to testify at some length that referral brochures were generally a poor resource for the homeless for several reasons. She pointed to studies that had demonstrated that many homeless persons are illiterate, fail to follow through with referrals, and have difficulty obtaining transportation to the services available. Thus, Dr. Bassuk was effectively permitted to opine that the listing of any services, whether public or private, would have been an ineffective means of mitigating the risk to the health and safety of the homeless population caused by the under-staffing at the ESC. 73 In sum, we conclude that the district court acted within its discretion when it refused to honor the parties' purported procedural stipulation. We reach the same conclusion with regard to the district court's exclusion of Devlin's lay opinion and its partial exclusion of Dr. Bassuk's testimony. Lynch was not deprived of a fair trial on her state law whistleblower claim.