Evans v. Port Auth. of NY and NJ

• Citation: 273 F.3d 346
• Decision Date: 28 November 2001
• Docket Number: Nos. 00-1817 and 00-1919,s. 00-1817 and 00-1919
• Parties: (3rd Cir. 2001) JANET L. EVANS, v. PORT AUTHORITY OF NEW YORK AND NEW JERSEY; ANGELO DINOME; LAURA TOOLE PORT AUTHORITY OF NEW YORK AND NEW JERSEY, APPELLANT. JANET L. EVANS APPELLANT, v. PORT AUTHORITY OF NEW YORK AND NEW JERSEY; ANGELO DINOME; LAURA TOOLE
• Court: United States Courts of Appeals. United States Court of Appeals (3rd Circuit)

Page 346

273 F.3d 346 (3rd Cir. 2001)

JANET L. EVANS, v. PORT AUTHORITY OF NEW YORK AND NEW JERSEY; ANGELO DINOME; LAURA TOOLE PORT AUTHORITY OF NEW YORK AND NEW JERSEY, APPELLANT.

JANET L. EVANS APPELLANT, v. PORT AUTHORITY OF NEW YORK AND NEW JERSEY; ANGELO DINOME; LAURA TOOLE.

Nos. 00-1817 and 00-1919

UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE THIRD CIRCUIT

Argued July 16, 2001

November 28, 2001

Appeal from the United States District Court for the District of New Jersey (D.C. Civ. No. 95-cv-5094) District Judge: Honorable Katharine S. Hayden

Raymond L. Hamlin, Esquire Terry Ridley, Esquire (argued) Hunt, Hamlin & Ridley 60 Park Place Suite 1602 Newark, New Jersey 07102, for Appellant in No. 00-1817 and Appellee in No. 00-1919.

Hugh H. Welsh, Esquire Donald F. Burke, Esquire (argued) Port Authority of New York & New Jersey One Riverfront Plaza Suite 327 Newark, New Jersey 017102, for Appellee in No. 00-1817 and Appellant in No. 00-1919.

Before: Mansmann, Scirica and Rendell, Circuit Judges.

OPINION OF THE COURT

Mansmann, Circuit Judge

In this action alleging racial discrimination in violation of 42 U.S.C. SS 1981 and 1983, and Title VII, the jury returned a verdict in favor of Janet Evans, finding that her employer, the Port Authority of New Jersey, discriminated against her when it failed to promote her to the position of client manager in 1994. Evans was awarded back pay, front pay, and compensatory damages. The District Court also granted her request for attorney's fees. The Port Authority contends that the District Court erred in denying its motion for a new trial as to liability and damages, and in calculating the amount of the fee award. Evans cross- appeals, contending that the District Court erred in granting the Port Authority's motion for remittitur and in failing to allow the jury to consider the issue of punitive damages.

Because we are convinced that the Port Authority's allegations of error relating to the liability portion of the verdict clearly lack merit, we direct our primary attention to the damage and attorney's fees awards. Although we recognize that the award for emotional damages is atypical, and though we may have arrived at a different calculation had the award been ours to determine in the first instance, we find that the figure set by the District Court has substantial support in the record. The attorney's fees award is more problematic. Our review of the billing records submitted by Evans' counsel establishes that the District Court did not devote adequate attention to the hours expended and the duplication of effort by Evans' attorneys; reduction in the fee award is warranted. For the reasons set forth herein, we will conditionally affirm the order of the District Court denying the Port Authority's motion for a new trial and granting its motion for remittitur. We will vacate the District Court's order approving the award of attorney's fees and will remand this matter for a recalculation of the award.

I.

In 1993, Janet Evans, a Port Authority employee since 1979, worked as a liaison between the Port Authority and government and business officials. The same year, Evans applied and was interviewed for the Port Authority position of client manager. Eight total candidates were considered, including four white candidates, three black candidates, and one Hispanic applicant. Three of the candidates, Evans, Laura Toole, and Dan Maynard, were interviewed by Angelo Dinome, a white male.

In January 1994 Evans learned that the client manager position would be filled by Toole, a white female. She also learned that Maynard, a white male, had been promoted to the position of senior information officer. This position had never been advertised and Evans was not aware that it was open. Evans challenged Toole's appointment and Maynard's promotion, claiming that each was the result of discrimination based on race. She filed a complaint alleging racial discrimination with the EEOC in April 1994. The EEOC did not find probable cause to support Evans' allegations, but did issue a right to sue letter.

On October 3, 1995, Evans filed a timely complaint in the District Court of New Jersey, alleging that "the actions of the [D]efendant[ ]¹ in failing to promote her to the position of client manager were designed to deny her the opportunity for growth and [to] prevent her from advancing in the Port Authority solely on the basis of her race." She maintained, too, that the Port Authority provided "greater attention, benefits and support to non-African American employees by way of preference for certain bonuses, incentives, and salaries." Evans contended that the appointment of Toole and the promotion of Maynard constituted proof of the Port Authority's impermissible preference.

Following a multi-day jury trial in August 1999, the jury found that the Port Authority violated 42 U.S.C. SS 1981 and 1983, and Title VII when it failed to promote Evans in 1994. The jury awarded Evans $148,000 in back pay, $182,000 in front pay, and $1.15 million in compensatory damages.

The Port Authority filed a motion for judgment N.O.V. or, in the alternative, for new trial.² After evaluating thoroughly on the record each of the grounds asserted, the District Court denied the Port Authority's motions. The District Court instead granted the Port Authority's request for remittitur, reducing Evans' compensatory damages for emotional distress to $375,000. Ultimately, the District Court approved a request for attorney's fees made by Evans' counsel in the amount of $635,555.71.

The Port Authority filed this timely appeal raising issues relevant to liability, damages, and fees. Evans filed a timely cross-appeal raising issues bearing solely upon damages.

II.

We turn first to the Port Authority's argument that it is entitled to a new trial on the question of liability. The Port Authority bases this argument on allegations of error which include the District Court's admitting or excluding multiple items of evidence, permitting allegedly inflammatory comments made by counsel for Evans during summation, and inadequately charging the jury.³ These allegations do not merit extended discussion. We have conducted a meticulous review of the record as it bears upon each of these alleged errors and are convinced that the District Court's rulings were supported by the law and the facts and were consistent with the sound exercise of judicial discretion.⁴ We do not find anything in the record to support the Port Authority's assertion that the District Court erred in failing to grant a new trial with respect to liability.

III.

We focus next upon the components of the damage award, considering first the Port Authority's contention that the front and back pay awards must be vacated because the District Court failed to give the jury clear instructions as to how these awards were to be calculated.

Examination of the record establishes that the Port Authority never objected to and, in fact, agreed to the adequacy of the front and back pay instructions. We have reviewed those instructions and find that they gave the jury ample guidance as to the law and the method of calculating these awards.

We reject, too, the Port Authority's contention that the evidence submitted to the jury was insufficient to support the awards. Again, context is important. As the District Court made clear in its ruling on the Port Authority's motion for a new trial, the quality of the evidence introduced with respect to front and back pay lay largely in the hands of the Port Authority; the Port Authority was responsible for and should not now be heard to complain about lack of detail in the evidence. The position of the District Court is set forth in the transcript of the ruling on the motion for a new trial:

The Court: I will not permit, in light of what I just read and the struggles that [Evans] had to undergo to get basic, basic, salary information, from which [she] could workup [sic] some kind of a chart or graph, or... some kind of easy specifics for this jury to work with, I will not permit [the Port Authority] to attack the manner in which this financial information ultimately was presented to the jury.

As I recall eventually we did receive the numbers -- was there a stipulation ultimately worked out, counsel?

[Counsel for Evans]: Yes.

[Counsel for the Port Authority]: Yes.

The Court: Flat out numbers. That are consistent with the findings [the jury] made about what [Evans] had lost by being deprived of the promotion that she sought... brought forth and into the future. The... jury was told about how old [Evans] was. What her career path had been. About her devotion to her job. She testified that she had an interest in remaining in her position and pursuing promotions along the line of work that she was doing. And she was quite specific... about that....

* * * *

Therefore, I am not disturbing the jury's awards on front and back pay.

(Evans App. G, p. 26-27). We, too, decline to disturb the jury's calculation of the front and back pay awards.

IV.

We next address the Port Authority's contention that it is entitled to a new trial because the jury's compensatory damage award of $1.15 million "was not supported by the evidence and was grossly excessive, `reflect[ing]' a jury driven by mistake, passion, prejudice or partiality."

We review the District Court's decision not to grant a new trial for abuse of discretion. Our precedent establishes that a District Court reviewing a jury verdict has an "obligation... to uphold the jury's award if there exists a reasonable basis to do so." Motter v. Everest & Jennings Inc., 883 F.2d 1223, 1230 (3d Cir. 1989). "[T]he court may not vacate or reduce the award merely because it would have granted a lesser amount of damages." Id. A new trial is warranted based "upon [a] showing that `the jury verdict resulted from passion or prejudice.' " Hurley v. Atlantic City Police Depart., 174 F.3d 95, 114 (3d Cir. 1999), ...