Hite v. Vermeer Mfg. Co., 4:03 CV 90174.

• Decision Date: 23 March 2005
• Docket Number: No. 4:03 CV 90174.,4:03 CV 90174.
• Citation: 361 F.Supp.2d 935
• Parties: Denise HITE, Plaintiff, v. VERMEER MANUFACTURING CO. and Rick Leedom, Defendants.
• Court: U.S. District Court — Southern District of Iowa

361 F.Supp.2d 935

Denise HITE, Plaintiff, v. VERMEER MANUFACTURING CO. and Rick Leedom, Defendants.

No. 4:03 CV 90174.

United States District Court, S.D. Iowa, Central Division.

March 23, 2005.

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Paige Ellen Fiedler, Beth A Townsend, Fiedler Townsend & Newkirk PLC, Johnston, IA, for Denise R Hite, Plaintiff.

Dale A Knoshaug, Hanson Bjork & Russell, Dale A Knoshaug, Hanson Bjork & Russell, Des Moines, IA, for Rick Leedom, Vermeer Manufacturing Company, Defendants.

ORDER ON MOTIONS

PRATT, District Judge.

Before the Court is a motion, filed by Defendants, entitled "Defendants' Motion for Judgment as a Matter of Law, Motion for New Trial and Motion to Amend Judgment" (Clerk's No. 41). Also before the Court are two motions filed by Plaintiff: Plaintiff's "Motion for Equitable Relief, Front Pay, Interest, and Liquidated Damages" (Clerk's No. 40); and Plaintiff's "Motion for Attorney's Fees and Expenses" (Clerk's No. 43). Additionally, Plaintiff has filed a Bill of Costs to which Defendants object in part. Each party resists the other's motion(s) and Plaintiff has filed replies to Defendants' resistances. The matters are fully submitted.

I. BACKGROUND

On March 28, 2003, Plaintiff Denise Hite ("Plaintiff") filed a Complaint against Defendants Vermeer Manufacturing Co. ("Vermeer") and Rick Leedom ("Leedom"), alleging violations of the Family Medical Leave Act ("FMLA"), the Americans with Disabilities Act ("ADA"), and the Iowa Civil Rights Act. No pre-trial dispositive motions were filed, and trial commenced in the matter on February 14, 2005. Prior to trial, the parties agreed that Plaintiff was not pursuing an independent claim under the Iowa Civil Rights Act. During trial, the Court granted judgment as a matter of law in favor of Defendants on Plaintiff's ADA claim. Thus, the only claim submitted to the jury was Plaintiff's FMLA retaliation claim. On February 17, 2005, the jury returned a verdict in favor of Plaintiff, finding: 1) Defendants failed to prove by the greater weight of the evidence that the same adverse employment action against Plaintiff would have been taken even had it not considered Plaintiff's FMLA leave use; 2) Plaintiff's damages in wages, salary, and employment benefits totaled $107,571.97; and 3) Defendants did not act with a good faith belief that it was in compliance with the FMLA when it discharged Plaintiff from her employment.

II. LAW AND ANALYSIS

A. Defendants' Motion for Judgment as a Matter of Law, Motion for New Trial, and Motion to Amend Judgment

Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 59 provides:

A new trial may be granted to all or any of the parties and on all or part of the issues ... in an action in which there has been a trial by jury, for any of the reasons for which new trials have heretofore been granted in actions at law in the courts of the United States.

Fed.R.Civ.P. 59. The power to grant a new trial "is confided almost entirely to the exercise of discretion on the part of the trial court." Allied Chem. Corp. v. Daiflon, 449 U.S. 33, 101 S.Ct. 188, 66 L.Ed.2d 193 (1980). While a trial court unquestionably has the discretionary power to grant a new trial, the role and function of the jury is not to be trivialized. "The district court can only disturb a jury verdict to prevent a miscarriage of justice." Beckman v. Mayo Found., 804 F.2d 435, 439 (8th Cir.1986) (citing McGee v. South Pemiscot Sch. Dist. R-V, 712 F.2d 339, 344 (8th Cir.1983)).

Since this country's inception, an individual's right to trial by jury, in both civil and criminal matters has been held to be of the utmost importance. Indeed, the Seventh Amendment specifically provides that "the right of trial by jury shall be preserved, and no fact tried by a jury, shall be otherwise reexamined in any Court of the United States," except according to the rules of the common law. U.S. CONST. amend. VII. The jury is the traditional finder of facts in a trial, and as such, the "`judge may not usurp the functions of the jury... [which] weighs the evidence and credibility of witnesses.'" White v. Pence, 961 F.2d 776, 780-81 (8th Cir.1992) (quoting McGee, 712 F.2d at 344). The distinct roles between the court and the jury must be recognized and followed. For example:

Whether the evidence, when offered, is admissible, is a question for the court; but when admitted, the question whether sufficient or not is for the jury, and it is their province to draw from it all such inferences and conclusions as it conduces to prove, and which, in their judgment, it does prove, and their finding is conclusive, unless a new trial is awarded by the court in which the case is tried, or in the appellate tribunal, for some error of law.

Barreda v. Silsbee, 62 U.S. 146, 167, 21 How. 146, 16 L.Ed. 86 (1858). The respect for the jury system is such that the court "will not disturb a jury's verdict unless [it] determine[s] that no reasonable juror could have found for the non-moving party based on the trial record." Sanders v. May Dep't Stores Co., 315 F.3d 940, 943 (8th Cir.2003) (citing Morning v. Arkansas Dep't of Corr., 243 F.3d 452, 455 (8th Cir.2001)).

It follows, then, that a motion for new trial cannot be granted simply because the trial judge disagrees with the jury's reasoning. "Where reasonable men can differ in evaluation of credible evidence, a new trial on the ground of weight of the evidence should not be granted." White, 961 F.2d at 781. At the onset, "[i]t must be assumed that the facts of the case have been correctly found by the jury." Barreda, 62 U.S. at 166, 21 How. 146.

It is no answer to say that the jury's verdict involved speculation and conjecture. Whenever facts are in dispute or the evidence is such that fair-minded men may draw different inferences, a measure of speculation and conjecture is required on the part of those whose duty it is to settle the dispute by choosing what seems to them to be the most reasonable inference. Only when there is a complete absence of probative facts to support the conclusion reached does a reversible error appear. But where, as here, there is an evidentiary basis for the jury's verdict, the jury is free to discard or disbelieve whatever facts are inconsistent with its conclusion.

Lavender v. Kurn, 327 U.S. 645, 652, 66 S.Ct. 740, 90 L.Ed. 916 (1946). A jury's verdict is less likely to be unreasonable where the evidence presented at trial is not complicated and the legal principles involved are not likely to confuse a jury. Fireman's Fund Ins. Co. v. Aalco Wrecking Co., Inc., 466 F.2d 179, 187 (8th Cir.1972) (citing O'Neil v. W.R. Grace & Co., 410 F.2d 908, 913 (5th Cir.1969); Lewin v. Metropolitan Life Ins. Co., 394 F.2d 608, 614-15 (3rd Cir.1968); Cities Service Oil Co. v. Launey, 403 F.2d 537 (1968)); see also Latino v. Kaizer, 58 F.3d 310, 314 (7th Cir.1995) (ruling that jury verdicts in cases with highly disputed facts and simple issues are given greater deference). However, "[r]egardless of the rhetoric used the true standard for granting a new trial on the basis of the weight of the evidence is simply one which measures the result in terms of whether a miscarriage of justice has occurred." Fireman's Fund, 466 F.2d at 187. A miscarriage of justice only occurs when, based on the admitted evidence, the jury returns a verdict that is clearly not supported by the evidence.

Here, Defendants' motion argues that the jury's verdict in favor of the Plaintiff was a miscarriage of justice. Specifically, Defendants argue that the Court should grant judgment as a matter of law or a new trial, because the jury verdict was not adequately supported by evidence at trial. Plaintiff, on the other hand, argues that there was ample evidence to support the jury verdict. The Court must agree with Plaintiff. The record shows that Plaintiff offered testimony at trial indicating that she worked for Vermeer, that she was entitled to leave under the FMLA due to her severe depression, and that she frequently exercised her right to use FMLA leave. Plaintiff and her doctor testified about her depression, and about how stress aggravates her depression, and sometimes causes it to recur or intensify. While working as a CNC lathe operator at Vermeer, Plaintiff began experiencing significant depressive episodes in 1999. Plaintiff used a combination of personal days, vacation days, and FMLA leave to cover her depression-related absences. Toward the end of 2000, Plaintiff began using intermittent FMLA leave, generally to cover days when she needed to come in late or leave early because of her depression. To evidence retaliation for using her protected FMLA leave, Plaintiff testified that she experienced problems with her supervisor, Leedom, every time she was absent from work. Specifically, she testified that Leedom "called into question as to whether or not [she] was really sick under the FMLA guidelines." Trial Tr. at 180.¹

Plaintiff also testified that Leedom "would say that I needed to be at work because physically there looks nothing wrong with me ... I looked fine to him so I should be at work." Id. Plaintiff testified that she was "repeatedly called into [Leedom's office] to discuss [her] FMLA use and [her] depression." Id. Further, trial testimony revealed that Plaintiff was transferred to different machines several times because of her FMLA absences. Although she was paid the same wage, Plaintiff perceived the transfers as demotions. Being moved to the alternative machines, Plaintiff claims, exacerbated her depression, causing her to take more leave. After each move, Plaintiff complained to management at Vermeer that she believed her rights under the FMLA were being violated. Only then did Vermeer return Plaintiff to her CNC lathe. Plaintiff also testified that Leedom told her "If I continued to use FMLA, my job at Vermeer, I wouldn't-it would be in jeopardy." Id.

In support of Plaintiff's testimony, several written evaluations were entered...