Court Opinion

ID: 9436735
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-03 03:00:42.483242+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T17:24:24.859269
License: Public Domain

N.R. SMITH, Circuit Judge,
concurring in part and dissenting in part:
I agree with the majority to affirm on the cross appeal and, therefore, join Part II of the majority’s memorandum disposition. However, because I believe the district court erred by not setting aside the jury verdict, I do not believe it necessary to address the issues presented in Part I of the majority’s memorandum disposition. I therefore dissent from the majority’s decision to remand the case back to the district court and would simply reverse the district court’s decision to not grant defendant’s motion for judgment as a matter of law outright.
*671In sum, the district court should have set aside the jury verdict in favor of Johnson, because no reasonable jury could have found that Johnson was fired due to Jamie San Miguel’s allegedly improper motives. San Miguel did not fire Johnson; rather, Mary Lucas, the Human Resources supervisor, did. Lucas did so without any input from San Miguel. There is no evidence in the record that Lucas knew anything about San Miguel’s allegedly improper motives. Indeed, Lucas fired Johnson purely on the basis that Johnson — after being warned that walking out of a meeting early would result in termination — left the meeting anyways. Thus, San Miguel’s allegedly improper motives played no part in Lucas’s decision to fire Johnson. Johnson cites no Alaska law that would suggest that San Miguel’s allegedly improper motives can be imputed to Lucas in this situation.
The majority remands this case back to the district court, where the district court may order a new trial. Because I think the district court should have granted defendant’s motion for judgment as a matter of law, I would not reach the issue of whether the district court misapplied Alaska law by giving the second part of Jury Instruction No. 17. I therefore dissent from Part I of the majority’s memorandum disposition.