Hutchison v. Amateur Electronics Supply, Inc., 91-C-1377.

• Decision Date: 03 December 1993
• Docket Number: No. 91-C-1377.,91-C-1377.
• Citation: 840 F. Supp. 612
• Parties: Greta L. HUTCHISON, Plaintiff, v. AMATEUR ELECTRONICS SUPPLY, INC. and Terry Sterman, Defendants.
• Court: U.S. District Court — Eastern District of Wisconsin

840 F. Supp. 612

Greta L. HUTCHISON, Plaintiff, v. AMATEUR ELECTRONICS SUPPLY, INC. and Terry Sterman, Defendants.

No. 91-C-1377.

United States District Court, E.D. Wisconsin.

December 3, 1993.

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Arthur Heitzer, Heitzer Law Office, Milwaukee, WI, for plaintiff.

John H. Lindquist, Steven B. Rynecki, von Briesen & Purtell, Milwaukee, WI and Daniel W. Stevens, Esser, Dietrich & Stevens, Menomonee Falls, WI, for defendants.

DECISION AND ORDER

WARREN, Senior District Judge.

Before the Court is the plaintiff's Motion for a New Trial on the Issue of Damages pursuant to Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 59(a) ("Rule 59(a)") in the above-captioned matter. For the following reasons, this motion is denied.

I. BACKGROUND

The plaintiff, Greta Hutchison, was employed as office manager at Amateur Electronics Supply, Inc. ("Amateur") through December of 1989, when she was terminated and replaced. On December 23, 1991, Ms. Hutchison brought the instant suit, claiming that Terry Sterman, the owner and president of Amateur during her time of employment, (1) discriminatorily terminated her on the basis of age in violation of the Age Discrimination in Employment Act ("ADEA"), 29 U.S.C. § 621 et seq., (2) discriminatorily terminated her on the basis of sex in violation of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 ("Title VII"), 42 U.S.C. § 2000e et seq., (3) sexually harassed her in violation of Title VII, and (4) terminated her in retaliation for her opposition to his sexual harassment in violation of Title VII.

On September 3, 1993, the parties filed a Joint Pretrial Report with Proposed Jury Instructions pursuant to Local Rule 7.06. Included were proposed instructions for compensatory and punitive damages regarding Ms. Hutchison's Title VII claims. The Court permitted the compensatory damages, but not punitive damages, instructions to be presented to the jury.

A jury trial commenced in this case on September 13, 1993. On Friday, September 17, 1993, the jury returned a Special Verdict, finding for the plaintiff regarding her sexual harassment and retaliatory firing claims, dismissing her age discrimination and sex discrimination claims, and awarding her $80,000 in back pay, including fringe benefits. The jury awarded the plaintiff no front pay and no damages for emotional pain, suffering, inconvenience, or mental anguish. Finally, in response to Question No. 7, which was inadvertently included on the Special Verdict form¹, the jury indicated that the defendants would not have fired Ms. Hutchison for "just cause" apart from any unlawful motive based on sex, age, or retaliation.²

II. STANDARD OF REVIEW

Rule 59(a) provides as follows:

"A new trial may be granted to all or any of the parties and on all or part of the issues (1) 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; and (2) in an action tried without a jury, for any of the reasons for which rehearings have heretofore been granted in suits in equity in the courts of the United States. On a motion for a new trial in an action tried without a jury, the court may open the judgment if one has been entered, take additional testimony, amend findings of fact and conclusions of law or make new findings and conclusions, and direct the entry of a new judgment."

Under Rule 59(b), such a motion must be served within ten days after the entry of judgment.

A Rule 59(a) Motion for a New Trial is "not merely intended to secure a forum for the relitigation of old matters or to afford the parties the opportunity to present the case under new theories; instead, the motion is a device properly used to correct manifest errors of law or fact or to present newly discovered evidence." Rosera v. International Harvester Co., 109 F.R.D. 143, 149 (E.D.Wis.1986) (Warren, J.); St. Clair v. Pipal, 611 F.Supp. 911, 915 (E.D.Wis.1985) (Warren, J.). A Rule 59(a) motion should be granted if the Court determines, inter alia, that (1) the jury verdict is contrary to the clear weight of the evidence, (2) the damages are excessive, or (3) the trial was not fair to the moving party. Scaggs v. Consolidated Rail Corp., 6 F.3d 1290, 1293 (7th Cir.1993); Walden v. Illinois Cent. Gulf R.R., 975 F.2d 361, 365 (7th Cir.1992); Rockwell Graphic Systems, Inc. v. DEV Industries, Inc., 1993 WL 356930 at *1-2 (N.D.Ill. Sept. 14, 1993) (Williams, J.). It is within the discretion of this Court to grant or deny a new trial on the question of the adequacy of damages, Etling v. Sander, 447 F.2d 593, 594 (7th Cir.1971), and such a motion is properly granted if it will "effect substantial justice." Rosera, 109 F.R.D. at 148; St. Clair, 611 F.Supp. at 915. See also Allied Chemical Corp. v. Daiflon, Inc., 449 U.S. 33, 36, 101 S.Ct. 188, 190, 66 L.Ed.2d 193 (1980); Cole v. Bertsch Vending Co., Inc., 766 F.2d 327, 332 (7th Cir.1985); Fort Howard Paper Co. v. Standard Havens, Inc., 119 F.R.D. 397, 407 (E.D.Wis.1988) (Warren, J.), aff'd 901 F.2d 1373 (7th Cir. 1990).

In deciding such a motion, the Court should "balance the need for prompt and efficient handling of litigation in federal courts against the attainment of a just resolution of the particular dispute at hand," Rosera, 109 F.R.D. at 143; St. Clair, 611 F.Supp. at 915, and must examine the jury verdict the light most favorable to the prevailing party. See, e.g., Scaggs, 6 F.3d at 1293; M.T. Bonk Co. v. Milton Bradley Co., 945 F.2d 1404, 1407 (7th Cir.1991); Rockwell, 1993 WL 356930 at *1-2. A new trial is never warranted simply because the jury could have reached a different result, Continental Air Lines, Inc. v. Wagner-Morehouse, Inc., 401 F.2d 23, 30 (7th Cir.1968); Cornelius v. La Croix, 631 F.Supp. 610, 616 (E.D.Wis.1986) (Gordon, J.), and should not be awarded if a moving party cannot demonstrate that a miscarriage of justice will otherwise result. Deppe v. Tripp, 863 F.2d 1356, 1362 (7th Cir.1988); United States Equal Employment Opportunity Comm'n v. AIC Sec. Investigations, Ltd., 1993 WL 427454, at *2 (N.D.Ill. Oct. 21, 1993).

III. DISCUSSION

A. LEGAL FRAMEWORK

1. Retroactive Application of the Civil Rights Act of 1991 to Cases Pending Before District Courts:

Prior to the enactment of the Civil Rights Act of 1991 ("the 1991 Act"), an aggrieved party under Title VII was only entitled to seek equitable relief, and had no right to recover punitive or compensatory damages or to have factual issues resolved by a jury. See, e.g., Mojica v. Gannett Co., Inc., 7 F.3d 552, 559 (7th Cir.1993). Under the 1991 Act, however, which became effective on November 21, 1991, a Title VII plaintiff who has suffered intentional discrimination and cannot recover under 42 U.S.C. § 1981 "may recover compensatory and punitive damages ... and may demand a trial by jury." 42 U.S.C. § 1981a(a-c). Not surprisingly, Title VII plaintiffs with actions filed both before and after the effective date of the 1991 Act sought to have its enhanced remedial provisions applied by district courts in their cases. Soon thereafter, the Seventh Circuit was forced to address the issue of retroactive application of the provisions of the 1991 Act to cases pending at various procedural stages.³

The Seventh Circuit initially discussed the applicability of the provisions of the 1991 Act to Title VII actions pending on appeal at the time of its enactment. In Mozee v. American Commercial Marine Serv. Co., 963 F.2d 929, 936-38 (7th Cir.1992), the Seventh Circuit (1) found that provisions of 1991 Act which "define the scope of a party's substantive rights and obligations" should not be applied retroactively, and (2) withheld judgment on whether trial courts should retroactively apply damage and procedural provisions of the 1991 Act to newly initiated proceedings. The higher court addressed the latter point in Luddington v. Indiana Bell Tel. Co., 966 F.2d 225, 229-30 (7th Cir.1992), finding that provisions of the 1991 Act are generally "applicable only to conduct engaged in after the effective date in the act, at least if the suit had been brought before the effective date emphasis added." After Luddington, then, the remaining issue was the retroactive application of the 1991 Act to Title VII actions before district courts where suit was brought after the effective date of the 1991 Act.

In Mojica, the Seventh Circuit directly addressed the applicability of the 1991 Act to Title VII actions pending before district courts at the time of its enactment. Mojica, 7 F.3d at 554-55.⁴ The plaintiff in Mojica, who filed her Title VII action prior to the effective date of the 1991 Act, went to trial after such date; the district court decided to apply the provisions of the 1991 Act retroactively at trial. Id. at 555. In finding that the district court should not have so applied the 1991 Act, the Seventh Circuit reasoned that, where Congressional intent is unclear, courts should "advance `the principle that the legal effect of conduct should ordinarily be assessed under the law that existed when the conduct took place' . .. simply put, if the conduct took place before the statute's enactment, it is not covered; if after, it is covered." Id. at 558 (citing, in part, Kaiser Aluminum & Chem. Corp. v. Bonjorno, 494 U.S. 827, 855, 110 S.Ct. 1570, 1586, 108 L.Ed.2d 842 (1990) (Scalia, J., concurring)). As a result, although noting that "in theory, a statute may include certain procedural or damage provisions which do not impact substantive rights, and therefore should apply to trials taking place after enactment," the Seventh Circuit held that the rule of non-retroactivity applies to provisions of the 1991 Act allowing for compensatory damages, punitive damages, and jury trials in Title VII claims. Id. at 557-59.

The reasoning employed by the Seventh Circuit in Mojica clearly dictates that district courts apply its...