Futrell v. JI Case
| Decision Date | 22 November 1993 |
| Docket Number | No. 88-C-1028.,88-C-1028. |
| Citation | 838 F. Supp. 401 |
| Parties | Roger FUTRELL, Plaintiff, v. J.I. CASE, a Tenneco Company, Defendant. |
| Court | U.S. District Court — Eastern District of Wisconsin |
COPYRIGHT MATERIAL OMITTED
Thomas A. Nelson, Nelson & Cole, Milwaukee, WI, for plaintiff.
Alvin R. Ugent, Podell, Ugent & Cross, Milwaukee, WI, for defendant.
DECISION AND ORDER
On July 16, 1993, following a four-day trial, a jury found that defendant J.I. Case, a Tenneco company ("Case"), had willfully discriminated against plaintiff Roger Futrell ("Futrell") on the basis of age in discharging him from employment on September 26, 1986, in violation of the Age Discrimination in Employment Act ("ADEA"), 29 U.S.C. § 621, et seq., and awarded the latter $132,788 in lost wages and benefits and $132,788 in liquidated damages. Pursuant to Rule 50(b), Fed.R.Civ.P., Case now moves to renew its motion for judgment as a matter of law, in the form of a motion for judgment notwithstanding the verdict, or, in the alternative, for a new trial. Case also moves for leave to file a reply to Futrell's response thereto. For the following reasons, both motions are granted.
Plaintiff Roger Futrell began working for defendant J.I. Case in 1974. Throughout his employment with Case, Futrell worked at the Wausau, Wisconsin plant as Manager of Manufacturing Engineering. In this position, Futrell reported directly to the General Plant Manager and was considered part of the General Plant Manager's staff, comprised by the Manager of Manufacturing, the Manager of Quality Control, the Materials Manager, the Plant Controller, and the Human Resources Manager. Futrell received generally favorable performance reviews during the time he worked for Case.
In February 1984, Dennis George was appointed General Plant Manager of the Wausau plant. Prior to this appointment, George had been the Manager of Manufacturing Engineering at defendant's Wichita, Kansas plant. George and Futrell were familiar to each other by virtue of their common employer and background in manufacturing engineering.
Shortly after George's arrival in Wausau, he and Futrell had a private conversation about George's promotion. They disagree over what was said. According to George, Futrell expressed disappointment at not being promoted to General Plant Manager. According to Futrell, George raised the issue, stating that he understood if Futrell was upset and that he hoped there would be no hard feelings about George's promotion. Futrell claims that he told George that he understood the decision, did not have any hard feelings, and would be cooperative.
At first, George and Futrell had no major conflicts, though George testified that they did have occasional differences of opinion during this period. At the end of George's first year, he evaluated Futrell's performance, indicating that his "results achieved were above average," and that his "performance exceeded expectations in many areas." (Pl.Ex. 6).
In late 1984 or early 1985, George appointed Futrell to lead a major business undertaking in conjunction with Newport News Shipbuilding, one of Case's sister companies. George and Futrell agree that, because Case's business declined sharply in the 1980's, this project was critical to both the short-term and the long-term survival of the Wausau plant.
After Futrell's appointment as project leader, the confrontations between he and George increased; their relationship, however, remained relatively good. In early 1986, after the Newport News project had been underway for about a year, George prepared a "Key Manager Review" on Futrell. Therein, George again reported favorably on Futrell's performance. George did note, however, that Futrell (Pl.Ex. 3). Pursuant to Case's policy, the Key Manager Review was never shared with Futrell. Instead, it was sent directly to the Racine, Wisconsin headquarters of the Company.
The Newport News Shipbuilding project was terminated abruptly in early 1986, and the viability of the Wausau plant again became questionable. George organized the Wausau workforce, the Wausau area community and the State of Wisconsin in a collective effort to convince Case's upper management to keep the Wausau plant open. George stated that he did not know whether these efforts proved to be successful or whether other factors were more persuasive. In any event, in late spring of 1986, Case decided to close two other plants in Terre Haute, Indiana and Bettendorf, Iowa and move their product lines to Wausau. This consolidation was referred to as "plant rationalization" and necessitated a complete renovation of the Wausau plant with a new plant layout, new equipment, and new manufacturing techniques.
In Wausau, this plant rationalization was referred to as Project 57. In May or June of 1986, George asked Futrell to serve as the project leader. Under Project 57, the Wausau plant was to be completely redesigned and reconfigured to do the work of three plants in a state-of-the-art manufacturing facility. Like the Newport News project, Project 57 was critical to the survival of the Wausau plant. Shortly after the project commenced, the relationship between George and Futrell became strained once again. Though the details of their testimony differed, every member of George's staff testified that he and Futrell had several heated disputes during the course of the project.
Two of these disagreements occurred at staff meetings, the last in late September 1986, just a few days before Futrell's termination. George's senior managers and their staffs attended this meeting. Therein, George grew angry in response to Futrell's challenge to his authority concerning how to staff the new operation. George and others testified that the exchange became heated and that Futrell went too far. As a result of this exchange, George abruptly terminated the meeting.
Thereafter, George telephoned his boss, Robert Riebau, and stated that the disharmony with Futrell had grown, and that, because Project 57 was very important, Futrell should be terminated. Riebau authorized George to terminate Futrell if necessary. Within the next several days, George worked out a severance package for Futrell with Human Resources Manager Larry Derks. On September 26, George summoned Futrell to his office, where he and Derks advised Futrell of his termination.
On September 28, 1988, Futrell filed a complaint in the Eastern District of Wisconsin, alleging violations of the ADEA in his discharge from employment with Case on September 26, 1986, and seeking various relief.
On April 8, 1992, after a lengthy delay occasioned by discovery and the exigencies of the Court's calendar, the Court granted in part and denied in part Case's motion for summary judgment, dismissing Futrell's claim of non-willful employment discrimination.
Following another lengthy delay, Futrell proceeded to trial on the remaining willful discrimination claim on July 12, 1993. At the close of Futrell's case and again at the close of all the evidence, Case moved for judgment as matter of law pursuant to Rule 50(a). Both motions were denied.
On July 16, 1993, the jury found for Futrell in the total amount of $265,576. Judgment was entered by the Court on August 3, 1993.
On August 4, 1993, within the ten-day period prescribed by the rule, Case moved to renew the motion for judgment as a matter of law, or, in the alternative, a new trial, pursuant to Rule 50(b). On August 30, 1993, Futrell filed his response thereto. Asserting that said response "raises a number of issues which Defendant believes requires some response or clarification," (Motion for Leave at ¶ 2), Case filed a motion for leave to reply, and a reply brief, on September 14, 1993.
Because a number of issues raised in Futrell's response merit further response or clarification, (Motion for Leave at ¶ 2), and whereas Futrell does not object, and pursuant to Rules 6(a & e), 7, 8 and 50(b), Fed. R.Civ.P., and Local Rules § 6.01(b), we grant Case's motion for leave to reply.
1. Legal framework
Essentially, Rule 50(b) states that, whenever a motion for judgment as a matter of law made at the close of all the evidence is denied, a verdict is returned, and the motion is timely renewed not later than ten (10) days after entry of judgment, "the court may, in disposing of the renewed motion, allow the judgment to stand or may reopen the judgment and either order a new trial or direct the entry of judgment as a matter of law...." Fed.R.Civ.P. 50(b). The standard applied to the renewed motion, known as a motion for judgment notwithstanding the verdict, is "whether there is substantial evidence to support the verdict, i.e., whether the evidence presented, combined with all reasonable inferences that may be drawn from it, is sufficient to support the verdict when viewed in the light most favorable to the party winning the verdict." Steffen v. Meridian Life Ins. Co., 859 F.2d 534, 546 (7th Cir.1988), cert. denied, 491 U.S. 907, 109 S.Ct. 3191, 105 L.Ed.2d 699 (1989); Mathewson v. National Automatic Tool Co., Inc., 807 F.2d 87, 90 (7th Cir.1986) (citing Yarbrough v. Tower Oldsmobile, Inc., 789 F.2d 508, 512-513 (7th Cir.1986); Christie v. Foremost Ins. Co., 785 F.2d 584 (7th Cir.1986)). Because the quantum of evidence required is substantial, "a mere scintilla of supporting evidence will not suffice." La Montagne v. American Convenience Products, Inc., 750 F.2d 1405, 1410 (7th Cir.1984), quoted in Perfetti v. First National Bank of Chicago, 950 F.2d 449, 450 (7th Cir.1991), cert. denied, ___ U.S. ___, 112 S.Ct. 2995, 120 L.Ed.2d 871 (1992). In making this determination, evidentiary conflicts are resolved in favor of the...
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Futrell v. J.I. Case
...of persuasion and had failed to prove that the reasons Case proffered for his discharge were pretextual. See Futrell v. J.I. Case, 838 F.Supp. 401, 406-10 (E.D.Wis.1993). This appeal Lacking direct evidence of a discriminatory discharge, Futrell attempted to prove age discrimination indirec......