Court Opinion

ID: 9481792
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-05 08:31:39.552883+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T17:48:34.333570
License: Public Domain

JOINER, Senior District Judge,
concurring. I write briefly to explain my reasoning.
I believe the trial judge did his best to comply with our instruction in Schrand v. Federal Pacific Electric Co., 851 F.2d 152 (6th Cir.1988). However, I believe that the submission of the instructions and the verdict form presented to the jury failed to adequately give clear directions to the jury, as pointed out by Judge Nelson, so that they could answer the questions submitted as the verdict in this case. In other words, the combination of the instructions and the special verdict forms would likely cause the confusion suggested by Judge Nelson.
The instructions are all drafted with an eye toward a general verdict.
If the proof should fail to establish any essential element of the plaintiff’s claim by a preponderance of the evidence, you must find for the defendant with respect to that claim.
In order for you to find for the plaintiff, you must find from all of the evidence that the plaintiff’s age was a determining factor in the decision of the defendant to discharge him; that is, the defendant would not have made its decision except for the plaintiff’s age. However, the plaintiff’s age may not be the only reason.
[Y]ou may, but you need not, render a verdict in his favor.... If the plaintiff has failed to prove one or more of these facts, then you must find for the defendant.
*1167If you find that the plaintiff has proven these facts and that the defendant has not produced a reason other than age for discharge, then you must find for the plaintiff. If, on the other hand, the defendant has produced evidence of a reason other than age for discharging the plaintiff, you must find for the defendant unless....
He is, nevertheless, entitled to recover if one such factor was his age.
(Court’s jury charge, Tr. at pp. 4, 12, 13, and 14). These and other like statements are scattered throughout the charge but the jury was never given a verdict form that allows it to find “for the plaintiff” or “for the defendant.” The verdict is made up of discrete questions, like Question V,1 which does not help the jury to know when certain instructions apply and when they do not.
As pointed out by Judge Nelson, the instruction required by Schrand and given by the trial judge is lost in a welter of instructions giving standards for finding for the plaintiff or for the defendant.
This opinion is not intended to criticize the judge for using interrogatories as a verdict form. In fact, special questions may be the best way of submitting a two-tiered case such as this one. The problem comes from not making clear which instructions apply to which questions, and in not helping the jury understand the standards for answering each question.
A special verdict requires that the trial judge make clear how the instructions apply. First, it is helpful to tell the jurors what questions they are going to have to answer. Second, instructions that apply to all questions should be so labeled. Third, certain questions require the application of special rules, and often require certain terms to be defined. Each question to be answered, and the special rules of law and definitions applicable thereto, should be discussed one at a time. It should be made clear which rules of law and definitions apply to which question to be answered. In this case, in order to make certain that the jury is not confused on the issue of willfulness (Question V), the instruction on willfulness should be given in context with the interrogatory. Finally, when a verdict form consisting of interrogatories is used, the instructions should give directions as to how to answer specific interrogatories, under the law, depending upon how the jury finds the facts. The language in the instructions that relate to, and call for, a general verdict is confusing and should be avoided.
Special questions help the jury solve discrete problems. They are a sound and effective method of submitting the case for decision but, when they are used, the trial judge must make certain that his instructions relate to the discrete questions and not to a general concept of “for the plaintiff” or “for the defendant.”

. V. CHOOSE ONE: (NOTE: You should complete this section only if you have found in favor of the plaintiff against the defendant.)
_ We the jury find unanimously that the defendant’s violation of the Age Discrimination in Employment Act was willful.
__ We the jury find unanimously that the defendant’s violation of the Age Discrimination in Employment Act was not willful.
(App. at 15).