Broaddus v. Florida Power Corp., 96-3262

• Decision Date: 10 July 1998
• Docket Number: No. 96-3262,96-3262
• Citation: 145 F.3d 1283
• Parties: 77 Fair Empl.Prac.Cas. (BNA) 384, 74 Empl. Prac. Dec. P 45,492, 11 Fla. L. Weekly Fed. C 1578 Harry S. BROADDUS, Plaintiff-Appellee, Cross-Appellant, v. FLORIDA POWER CORPORATION, Defendant-Appellant, Cross-Appellee.
• Court: U.S. Court of Appeals — Eleventh Circuit

Page 1283

145 F.3d 1283

77 Fair Empl.Prac.Cas. (BNA) 384,

74 Empl. Prac. Dec. P 45,492,

11 Fla. L. Weekly Fed. C 1578

Harry S. BROADDUS, Plaintiff-Appellee, Cross-Appellant, v. FLORIDA POWER CORPORATION, Defendant-Appellant, Cross-Appellee.

No. 96-3262.

United States Court of Appeals, Eleventh Circuit.

July 10, 1998.

Sylvia H. Walbolt, James R. Wiley, Carlton, Fields, Ward, Emmanuel, Smith & Cutler, Tampa, FL, for Defendant-Appellant, Cross-Appellee.

Al Millar, Mayport, FL, for Plaintiff-Appellee, Cross-Appellant.

Appeals from the United States District Court for the Middle District of Florida.

Before HATCHETT, Chief Judge, and GODBOLD and HENDERSON, Senior Circuit Judges.

GODBOLD, Senior Circuit Judge:

The defendant Florida Power Corporation (FPC) appeals from a final judgment and damages award in favor of plaintiff Harry Stanley Broaddus on his claim that his employment with FPC was terminated in violation of the Age Discrimination in Employment Act (ADEA), 29 U.S.C. § 621, et. seq. Broaddus cross-appeals contesting an evidentiary ruling made by the district court and the court's refusal to award reinstatement. We REVERSE the judgment in favor of Broaddus and REMAND this case to the district court for a new trial.

I. Background

Broaddus was employed by FPC in various positions at its Crystal River nuclear power plant for eleven years prior to his termination as part of a department-wide reduction in force (RIF) on December 9, 1993. After FPC terminated him, Broaddus filed suit against FPC alleging that he was terminated because of his age in violation of the ADEA and in retaliation for claims he made to company-provided medical benefits in violation of the Employee Retirement Income Security Act, (ERISA) 29 U.S.C. § 1001, et. seq. Both issues were tried to a jury in the Middle District of Florida.

Prior to trial FPC moved to strike Broaddus's demand for a jury trial on his ERISA claim because ERISA allows only equitable relief and no right to a jury trial exists. The court granted this motion but allowed the ERISA claim to be submitted to the jury as an advisory jury. FPC also moved in limine to prohibit Broaddus from presenting evidence or argument to the jury regarding medical insurance issues, claiming that such evidence would not be relevant to the age claim and had the potential to prejudice the jury. ^* The district court did not rule on this motion.

Broaddus alleged both disparate treatment and disparate impact theories of age discrimination. At the close of the evidence the district court granted FPC's motion for judgment as a matter of law on the disparate impact claim and the ERISA claim. The court allowed the disparate treatment claim to proceed.

Although the district court dismissed the ERISA claim, during his closing argument counsel for Broaddus mentioned the evidence of Broaddus's claims for medical benefits and implied that older workers often have greater employee benefits and more often utilize those benefits to pay for medical care for various health problems. Specifically, in his closing argument, counsel for Broaddus stated I think that [the RIF] was designed to get rid of the older higher priced employees. Because generally with age goes increased salary; with age and tenure goes increased benefits, such as retirement. Typically your vacation becomes longer every time. And, of course, hospitalization is just a part of it. But your higher priced employees usually go with age.

And also sickness and expense--medical sickness and expense typically go with age.

Counsel for FPC did not object to these comments. The district court instructed the jury that only an employer's consideration of age, rather than other factors, was improper under the ADEA and that other reasons for Broaddus's termination, whether fair or unfair, did not violate ADEA.

After the jury had begun deliberation it sent a written inquiry to the court regarding its consideration of the medical evidence. The query stated:

Since the second charge of discrimination due to health issues was dismissed, can we consider any of the evidence given prior to that ruling or is that evidence moot since that issue has been dropped?

FPC requested that the court reiterate that the ERISA claim was no longer an issue for the jury to decide. The court rejected this suggestion and instead instructed the jury as follows:

[Y]ou may and should consider all of the testimony and evidence that's been presented before you during this trial. However, with respect to any testimony and evidence relating to claims made under the plaintiff's medical insurance with respect to him or his spouse, you should now consider that evidence and give it such weight, if any, as you think should be given in your consideration of age discrimination alone. There is no claim before you now concerning discrimination regarding medical benefits or costs.

FPC objected to this instruction stating that it might allow the jury to conclude that discrimination based on insurance claims is in fact age discrimination. The district court overruled the objection.

After further deliberation, the jury returned a verdict for the plaintiff and awarded him $88,624.00 in lost wages and benefits. Both FPC and Broaddus filed various post-trial motions. FPC moved for judgment as a matter of law on the age discrimination claim or in the alternative for a new trial. The request for a new trial contended that the ERISA-related medical evidence had tainted the jury's consideration of the ADEA claim and that the court had erred in failing to properly instruct the jury that it should not consider such evidence for the purpose of determining whether FPC had discriminated against Broaddus on the basis of age. Broaddus moved the court to order that FPC reinstate his employment and to overrule the jury's finding that FPC did not act willfully in discriminating against Broaddus. The court denied all post-trial motions, and both parties timely appealed.

II. Discussion

A. FPC's Appeal

(i) FPC's request for judgment as a matter of law

FPC raises issues relating to the sufficiency of the evidence and asserts that Broaddus did not meet his burden of proving a prima facie case of discrimination and of ultimately proving an ADEA violation. Viewing all of the evidence in the light most favorable to the nonmoving party as we are required to do when examining a district court's denial of a motion under Rule 50. See Colvin v. Housing Authority, 71 F.3d 864, 866 (11th Cir.1996), we reject FPC's assertion that it was entitled to a judgment as a matter of law on Broaddus's disparate treatment case. However, because we order a new trial on the merits, we refrain from a full discussion of the evidence produced in this case and why it was sufficient to support the verdict.

(ii) FPC's motion for a new trial

FPC also contends that the jury's consideration of Broaddus's ADEA claim was improperly tainted by the medical evidence presented in his ERISA claim. FPC asserts that the prejudice resulting from the medical evidence was compounded by the district court's failure to properly instruct the jury on the relevance of this evidence, or lack thereof, when the jury interrupted its deliberations to inquire of the court how it should regard the ERISA-related evidence. We agree with FPC, and for this reason we order a new trial.

The Supreme Court has cautioned that the ADEA prohibits age discrimination and age discrimination alone. Hazen Paper v. Biggins, 507 U.S. 604, 611, 113 S.Ct. 1701, 123 L.Ed.2d 338 (1993). Congress enacted the ADEA to combat unproven stereotypes that employers might harbor regarding the decreased abilities of older workers. See EEOC v. Wyoming, 460 U.S. 226, 231, 103 S.Ct. 1054, 75 L.Ed.2d 18 (1983)("Congress' promulgation of the ADEA was prompted by its concern that older workers were being deprived of employment on the basis of inaccurate and stigmatizing stereotypes ... [and] that arbitrary age lines were in fact generally unfounded and ... the performance of older workers was at least as good as that of younger workers."). "When the employer's decision is wholly motivated by factors other than age, the problem of inaccurate and stigmatizing stereotypes disappears." Hazen Paper, 507 U.S. at 611, 113 S.Ct. 1701. The ADEA does not prohibit an employer from making an employment decision on the basis of higher salaries, increased benefits, pension status, or claims for medical expenses even though these characteristics are often correlated with an employee's age. Id. In sum, the ADEA is not concerned with employment decisions based on an employee's increased use of or eligibility for benefits. Those decisions may violate ERISA, but they do not violate the ADEA.

As evidence of Broaddus's ERISA cause of action, the jury heard testimony that he had made substantial claims on the company's medical policies. ^** During his closing argument, counsel for Broaddus insinuated that older workers often have increased medical costs and that this factor plays a role in employers' decisions to terminate older workers. Counsel for FPC did not object to these comments even though they are a misstatement of the law and improperly associate discrimination based on increased benefits or medical expenses with discrimination based on age. These statements confused the issues and blurred the line between the two distinct causes of action. See Houghton v. SIPCO, Inc., 38 F.3d 953, 960 (8th Cir.1994)(holding that because "[t]he Supreme Court has cautioned that liability under ERISA and ADEA, while not always mutually exclusive, are conceptually distinct" plaintiffs' pursuit of "an overly-expansive theory of ERISA liability ... tainted the submission of their ADEA disparate treatment claims to the jury.")

Evidence that the jury was confused about the relevance of the medical evidence in determining age discrimination surfaced in the form of the inquiry to the court about what significance should be...