Rodriguez-Torres v. Caribbean Forms Mfg.

• Decision Date: 22 February 2005
• Docket Number: No. 03-2573.,No. 03-2223.,03-2223.,03-2573.
• Citation: 399 F.3d 52
• Parties: Migdalia RODRIGUEZ-TORRES; Jose A. Martinez-Vega; Conjugal Partnership Rodriguez-Martinez Plaintiffs, Appellees/Cross-Appellants, v. CARIBBEAN FORMS MANUFACTURER, INC.; Ramallo Brothers Printing, Inc.; Carlos Restrepo, in his personal capacity as an executive of Caribbean Forms Manufacturer, Inc., Defendants, Appellants/Cross-Appellees, Direct Media Technologies; Pedro J. Torres, in his personal capacity, Defendants.
• Court: U.S. Court of Appeals — First Circuit

399 F.3d 52

Migdalia RODRIGUEZ-TORRES; Jose A. Martinez-Vega; Conjugal Partnership Rodriguez-Martinez Plaintiffs, Appellees/Cross-Appellants, v. CARIBBEAN FORMS MANUFACTURER, INC.; Ramallo Brothers Printing, Inc.; Carlos Restrepo, in his personal capacity as an executive of Caribbean Forms Manufacturer, Inc., Defendants, Appellants/Cross-Appellees Direct Media Technologies; Pedro J. Torres, in his personal capacity, Defendants.

No. 03-2223.

No. 03-2573.

United States Court of Appeals, First Circuit.

Heard November 12, 2004.

Decided February 22, 2005.

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Camilo K. Salas, III with whom Niles, Salas, Bourque & Fontana, L.C., John F. Nevares and John F. Nevares and Associates P.S.C. were on brief, for appellants.

Carlos Rodriguez Garcia with whom Rodriguez Garcia PSC was on brief, for appellees.

Before TORRUELLA, HOWARD, Circuit Judges, and CARTER,^* Senior District Judge.

HOWARD, Circuit Judge.

Migdalia Rodriguez-Torres, her husband, Jose A. Martinez-Vega, and their conjugal partnership filed this suit against Rodriguez's former employers, Ramallo Brothers Printing, Inc. ("Ramallo") and Caribbean Forms Manufacturer, Inc. ("Caribbean Forms"), and her supervisor, Carlos Restrepo, alleging that she was unlawfully terminated from her employment on the basis of age and gender.¹ The complaint alleged, inter alia, violations of Title VII, 42 U.S.C. § 2000e et seq., Puerto Rico Law 69, 29 P.R. Laws Ann. § 1321 et seq. ("Law 69") and Puerto Rico Law 100, 29 P.R. Laws Ann. § 146 et seq. ("Law 100") (collectively "the Commonwealth claims").²

The case proceeded to trial and concluded with a jury verdict finding Ramallo liable under Title VII and Puerto Rico law for terminating Rodriguez's employment on account of gender. The jury awarded Rodriguez $250,000 in emotional distress damages and $105,000 in backpay. The jury was not asked to specify whether these awards were for the Title VII or the Commonwealth claims. The jury also awarded Rodriguez $250,000 in punitive damages under Title VII.

Both parties filed post-trial motions. Ramallo moved for judgment as a matter of law or a new trial. It also sought to reduce the Title VII award based on the $200,000 statutory cap on damages and to eliminate the award for the Commonwealth claims because the total exceeded the Title VII cap. Rodriguez requested, inter alia, that the court award front pay and attorney's fees.

The district court declined to enter judgment as a matter of law or order a new trial. Rodriguez Torres v. Caribbean Forms Mfr., Inc., 286 F.Supp.2d 209, 213-217 (D.P.R.2003). Regarding damages, the court recognized that the Title VII compensatory and punitive damages award was capped at $200,000 and enforced the cap by allocating the damages so as to maximize Rodriguez's recovery. Id. at 218 (citing 42 U.S.C. § 1981a(b)(3)(c)). It allocated $249,999 of the emotional distress award to the Commonwealth claims and $1 to the Title VII claim. Id. at 219. It also awarded Rodriguez $199,999 in punitive damages under Title VII. Id. The court then doubled the damage award on the Commonwealth claims as required by Puerto Rico law but declined to award front pay. Id. at 220-21. The court did not award attorney's fees. Thus, the court entered a final judgment in favor of Rodriguez under Title VII for $200,000 in compensatory and punitive damages, $105,000 in backpay under Title VII,³ and for $499,998 in compensatory damages for the Commonwealth claims. The parties have cross-appealed. We affirm in all respects but one.

I

We set forth the facts in the light most favorable to the verdict. See Grajales-Romero v. Am. Airlines, Inc., 194 F.3d 288, 292 (1st Cir.1999). Ramallo was a commercial printing company operating in Puerto Rico that produced envelopes, books, encyclopedias, and directories. In addition, Ramallo executed large-scale mailings of shopping circulars and similar printed items on behalf of its clients. Caribbean Forms was a division of Ramallo.

On May 27, 1997, Rodriguez interviewed for a position at Ramallo and was hired, on a temporary basis, for the position of mailing supervisor. After a month, Rodriguez was given a raise and her appointment was extended.

Following a positive evaluation in September 1997, Rodriguez was given another raise and was promoted to be the production manager for the newly established Direct Media Technology Division ("DMT"). DMT was established to improve Ramallo's ability to coordinate large-scale mailings. On August 21, 1998, Rodriguez and DMT were transferred from Ramallo to Caribbean Forms.

Immediately after the transfer, Rodriguez continued to report to her previous supervisor at the Ramallo offices. In October 1998, however, Ramallo executives informed Carlos Restrepo, the vice-president of Caribbean Forms, that he should supervise all aspects of DMT. On November 10, 1998, Rodriguez was transferred from the Ramallo payroll to the Caribbean Forms payroll, and her personnel file was shipped from Ramallo to Caribbean Forms. According to Rodriguez, on this date, Restrepo became her supervisor, although she had been working with him since DMT moved to Caribbean Forms.

The day after Restrepo assumed supervisory authority over Rodriguez, he sent her a memorandum questioning whether she possessed the requisite knowledge of postal procedures for her position and criticizing her for not sufficiently communicating with him about the activity in DMT. Later that day, Rodriguez delivered Restrepo a responsive memorandum. After this written exchange, the two met alone in Restrepo's office.

During this meeting, Restrepo and Rodriguez discussed various problems in DMT. As the discussion progressed, tensions escalated. Restrepo told Rodriguez that "women were good for nothing, and that is why he wanted to have male employees." This was not the first time that Restrepo had made such gender-related comments. A week earlier, he had derogatorily called Rodriguez an "old woman." According to Rodriguez, Restrepo made such comments frequently, and when she told him that such comments were disrespectful, he responded that "men do their work better than women."

Six days after that meeting, Rodriguez began a one-month medical leave of absence because of a back injury. Rodriguez returned from leave on December 16, 1998. Late in the afternoon on that day, Rodriguez met with Carmen Martinez, the Caribbean Forms human resources manager. Martinez told Rodriguez that the company was terminating her employment because it was eliminating her position. Restrepo acknowledged, however, that he ordered Martinez to fire Rodriguez solely because of her poor performance as DMT production manager.

After Rodriguez's termination, Pedro Torres (Rodriguez's assistant) and Restrepo performed Rodriguez's duties. Approximately a year after Rodriguez's termination, Ramallo eliminated DMT because it was not profitable.

II

Ramallo challenges the judgment on several grounds. It claims that the district court should have dismissed all of the counts as a matter of law or ordered a new trial, that the court made erroneous and prejudicial evidentiary rulings, and that the court awarded excessive damages.

A. Judgment as a Matter of Law

We review de novo the district court's denial of Ramallo's motion for judgment as a matter of law. See Marrero v. Goya of P.R., Inc., 304 F.3d 7, 14 (1st Cir.2002). We examine the evidence presented at trial in the light most favorable to Rodriguez. See White v. N.H. Dep't of Corrections, 221 F.3d 254, 259 (1st Cir.2000). We "may not consider the credibility of witnesses, resolve conflicts in testimony or evaluate the weight of the evidence." Katz v. City Metal Co., 87 F.3d 26, 28 (1st Cir.1996). Our review "is weighted toward preservation of the jury verdict, for we must affirm unless the evidence was so strongly and overwhelmingly inconsistent with the verdict[ ] that no reasonable jury could have returned [it]." Crowley v. L.L. Bean, Inc., 303 F.3d 387, 393 (1st Cir.2002) (citation and quotation marks omitted).

1. Title VII

Ramallo asserts that it was entitled to judgment on the Title VII count because Rodriguez failed to establish the four McDonnell Douglas elements necessary to make out a prima facie case and thereby shift the burden of production to Ramallo to articulate a non-discriminatory reason for its action. See McDonnell Douglas Corp. v. Green, 411 U.S. 792, 93 S.Ct. 1817, 36 L.Ed.2d 668 (1973). The district court rejected this argument on the ground that Rodriguez had introduced "direct evidence" of discriminatory intent, rendering McDonnell Douglas inapplicable. On appeal, Ramallo says the case was tried under the McDonnell Douglas framework and there was no jury instruction about a direct evidence theory, so the district court could not shift course post trial. We need not address this contention because we uphold the jury verdict under McDonnell Douglas. See McMillan v. Mass. Soc. for Prevention of Cruelty of Animals, 140 F.3d 288, 298 n. 3 (1st Cir.1998) (stating that the court of appeals may affirm the district court's ruling on a motion for judgment as a matter of law on any ground manifest in the record).

The district court instructed the jury to evaluate the evidence by applying the McDonnell Douglas burden-shifting framework. See McDonnell Douglas, 411 U.S. at 802, 93 S.Ct. 1817. Under this framework, the plaintiff must first establish a prima facie case of discrimination. See id. Once the plaintiff satisfies the prima facie requirements, the burden of production shifts to the defendant to articulate a legitimate non-discriminatory reason for its action. See id. If the defendant provides such an explanation, the plaintiff must then demonstrate that the defendant's proffered reason was pretext for discrimination. See Reeves v. Sanderson Plumbing Prods., Inc., 530 U.S. 133, 146-47, 120 S.Ct. 2097, 147 L.Ed.2d 105 (2000). At all times, the plaintiff bears the...