Opinion ID: 163288
Heading Depth: 4
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Opinions regarding Minshall's work

Text: 57 At trial, Lynn, Bjorkman, Allen, and Sobel testified that they believed Minshall was a good reporter. McGraw-Hill argues that the district court abused its discretion in admitting this testimony because these individuals did not supervise Minshall and, therefore, did not have a basis for their opinions. Minshall argues that Lynn, Bjorkman, Allen, and Sobel based their opinions on their personal observations of Minshall's work at KMGH. 58 Lynn, Bjorkman, Allen, and Sobel each had the opportunity to observe Minshall's work while at KMGH. Lynn and Bjorkman testified that they used Minshall's scripts. Allen and Sobel also worked with Minshall and had the opportunity to observe his reporting. Accordingly, Lynn, Bjorkman, Allen, and Sobel had a professional basis for their opinions of Minshall's work. 59 Further, the district court instructed the jury as follows: 60 The opinions of the plaintiff's coworkers regarding the plaintiff's job performance are not necessarily relevant to your determination of whether the defendant's decisions for not renewing the plaintiff's employment contract was because of his age unless the coworker had a basis to evaluate the plaintiff's performance. 61 In light of the basis for the testimony and the limiting instruction, the district court did not abuse its discretion in admitting the testimony of Lynn, Bjorkman, Allen, and Sobel.