Quinn v. Consolidated Freightways Corp., of Delaware, 01-1681.

• Citation: 283 F.3d 572
• Decision Date: 08 March 2002
• Docket Number: No. 01-1681.,01-1681.
• Parties: Joyce J. QUINN, Appellant v. CONSOLIDATED FREIGHTWAYS CORPORATION OF DELAWARE; d/b/a/ CF Motorfreight; A. William Kudrick
• Court: United States Courts of Appeals. United States Court of Appeals (3rd Circuit)

283 F.3d 572

Joyce J. QUINN, Appellant v. CONSOLIDATED FREIGHTWAYS CORPORATION OF DELAWARE; d/b/a/ CF Motorfreight; A. William Kudrick

No. 01-1681.

United States Court of Appeals, Third Circuit.

Argued December 17, 2001.

Filed: March 8, 2002.

Francine Z. Taylor (Argued), Lancaster, PA, for Appellant.

Vincent Candiello (Argued), G. Scott Paterno, Morgan, Lewis & Bockius LLP, Harrisburg, PA, for Appellee, Consolidated Freightways of Delaware.

Before: SLOVITER, McKEE, Circuit Judges, and HAYDEN,^* District Judge.

OPINION OF THE COURT

HAYDEN, District Judge.

After a five day trial on Joyce Quinn's sexual harassment lawsuit against her former employer, Consolidated Freightways Corporation (hereafter "CF"), the jury returned a verdict in favor of defendant in less than an hour. Quinn appeals from evidentiary decisions of the trial court, including a discovery sanction that effectively precluded potentially corroborating testimony of a co-worker. Because we find that these rulings denied plaintiff the opportunity to present critical evidence to the jury, we reverse.

Background

Joyce Quinn, with established credentials in the trucking industry, was hired by CF as an account manager in its York Terminal on May 11, 1992. Quinn claims that in the course of her employment at CF, the predominantly male sales staff and managers, and in particular William Kudrick, a CF executive, sexually harassed and discriminated against her.

Quinn and Kudrick had a sexual relationship in 1990, before Quinn began working for CF. However, Quinn ended it after approximately two months. She claims that Kudrick had exhibited inappropriate behavior toward her as early as 1985. That year, while she was working elsewhere, he charged her on a golf course, tackled her to the ground, and pinned her beneath him in the presence of two Kudrick confirmed this incident when he testified at the instant suit.

Sometime in 1993, after she was hired by CF, Quinn was required to work two days per week at CF's Lancaster terminal, which was under Kudrick's supervision. Quinn alleges that Kudrick repeatedly suggested that they "fool around." Thereafter, in 1995, Kudrick became Quinn's direct supervisor at CF's York terminal. Quinn was the only female sales manager at that facility, and she testified that an ongoing hostile work environment existed there, and that it intensified after Kudrick became her supervisor.

In March, 1996, Quinn was diagnosed with a depressive disorder which she attributes to workplace conditions. Medication was prescribed for her, and her psychiatrist instructed her to reduce her work schedule which was then 60 hours/week.

During the leave of absence that followed, Quinn filed an initial complaint with the Pennsylvania Human Relations Commission (PHRC). That complaint, as subsequently supplemented, on April 15, 1996, accused CF of discrimination and illegal retaliation for Quinn engaging in protected behavior. Quinn took another leave of absence later in April following a brief return to work. In following a heated exchange over Quinn's reduced schedule, Kudrick fired her. The firing was purportedly for insubordination.

Quinn filed her federal lawsuit in October 1999 a CF and Kudrick, alleging various disability discrimination claims against CF, including discrimination, disability discrimination and retaliation in violation of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990(ADA), and the Pennsylvania Human Relations Act (PHRA). Additionally, the complaint charged Kudrick with violating the PHRA, intentional infliction of emotional distress, assault, and battery. In November 1999 the defendants filed motions to dismiss. After stipulation of all parties, Quinn amended her complaint by omitting the claims for intentional infliction emotional distress and assault and battery; and by limiting the individual claims against Kudrick to charges of sexual discrimination. Thereafter, the judge denied the defendants' motions to dismiss, and the case proceeded to discovery.

In July 2000, close to the conclusion of the discovery period, plaintiff deposed a longtime CF employee, Vida Trout Passion, who was working as a sales manager at the Reading Terminal, about one hour's drive from the Lancaster Terminal that plaintiff was assigned to. Passion testified at length about a hostile work environment at the Reading Terminal, and said that she had unsuccessfully complained about it for years. Additionally, in response to questioning by CF's attorney, Passion disclosed that she once witnessed Kudrick sexually accost Quinn in a hotel room that Quinn and Passion were sharing during a sales conference. Quinn was not present at that deposition when Passion offered that testimony. Earlier, in her own deposition, Quinn had described an encounter with Kudrick in a hotel room during which he purportedly made unwanted sexual advances towards her. However, Quinn testified that she had been alone in the room at the time of that accident.

CF's pretrial motions included a motion in limine in which CF asked the trial court to exclude testimony Vida Passion might offer about her own observations at CF's Reading Terminal. These observations allegedly included gender oriented discussions including discussions about "strip club" escapades, and conversations that could arguably establish a hostile work environment under Title VII. CF argued that Passion's observations were not relevant to Quinn's Title VII claim because Passion worked at the Reading facility, and Quinn's allegations pertained to the Lancaster facility. Quinn's counsel attempted to rebut that argument by pointing out that Division Manager Robert Warner, supervised both facilities, and that Passion's observations about the Reading Terminal corroborated Quinn's allegations regarding the environment at the Lancaster Terminal. The District Court agreed with CF and entered an order precluding Passion from testifying about her observations at CF's Reading Terminal.

After discovery closed, CF moved for summary judgment. Quinn filed a brief in opposition to that motion in which she specified in a number of instances of Kudrick's inappropriate and unwanted sexual advances toward her. These included two such occasions in a hotel room, and Quinn noted that Passion had witnessed one of advances.

The judge nevertheless granted CF's motion for summary judgment as to Quinn's ADA and PHRA claims, and she also dismissed all of the claims against Kudrick. Quinn's Title VII claims against CF for sexual discrimination, hostile environment, and retaliation then proceeded to trial.

On the afternoon of Friday, February 9, 2001, Quinn's attorney faxed CF's attorney a new time line of events that she intended to use as an exhibit during her opening statement. The following Monday, just before the jury was to be called into the courtroom to hear opening statements, and after the attorneys had worked out a date discrepancy on the time line, CF's attorney asked the judge to address an issue concerning exhibits. He argued that particular portions of the new time line exhibit raised new issues, one of which, an incident where Kudrick accosted plaintiff in a hotel room, he described as "a brand new allegation and what we presume will be testimony by plaintiff that has never been raised before regarding a second hotel incident." App. 17. Counsel for Quinn confirmed that her client would be testifying about that incident, and counsel for CF that "this is a discovery abuse," App. 18, because Quinn's answers to the interrogatories Kudrick propounded identified only one hotel room incident and Quinn had never amended those answers. Now the time line exhibit reflected two incidents. CF argued that this was a violation of the disclosure required by the discovery rules, and amounted to a "dramatic addition." He asked the court to impose sanctions under Fed.R.Civ.P. 37 and preclude testimony of a second hotel incident. App. 18-19.¹

In response, Quinn's attorney pointed out that CF had known about Vida Passion's testimony regarding this second incident since she was deposed in the presence of CF's counsel in July 2000. App. 26-27. She also alluded to the difficulties she had experienced in obtaining Vida Passion's deposition, and Quinn's concerns about putting Passion in jeopardy since Passion still worked for CF. App. 25. Notwithstanding that explanation, the trial court admonished Quinn's attorney that "you cannot come in on the day of trial and bolster your case with new allegations that haven't been disclosed in discovery," App. 27. The court granted CF's request for sanctions and ordered: "The evidence will be excluded from the time line and from the testimony that will be presented here." App. 29.

In asking the court to reconsider that ruling, Quinn's counsel argued that both sides had learned about Passion's corroborating testimony regarding Kudrick's conduct at the same time, back in July 2000 when Passion was deposed in the presence of CF's attorney. App. 32-33. However, the trial court was not dissuaded from its belief that CF's objection was appropriate, and that Quinn was improperly attempting to change her testimony on the eve of trial, and therefore the court refused to reconsider its prior ruling. App. 34-35.

Accordingly, when Passion testified at trial, she was not examined about the hotel incident in which she allegedly saw Kudrick accost Quinn. Similarly, because the court had granted CF's motion in limine, Passion was not asked about the allegedly hostile work environment at CF's Reading facility. CF defended against Quinn's allegations of discrimination and retaliation by offering testimony that she had actually been discharged for misconduct and insubordination. The jury did not accept Quinn's claim that this explanation was pretextual, and returned a verdict for CF and against Quinn. This appeal followed.

Standard of Review and Jurisdiction

The trial court had...