McCombs v. Meijer, Inc.
| Decision Date | 19 January 2005 |
| Docket Number | No. 03-3758.,No. 03-3612.,No. 03-4357.,03-3612.,03-3758.,03-4357. |
| Citation | 395 F.3d 346 |
| Parties | Amber McCOMBS, Plaintiff-Appellee, v. MEIJER, INC., d/b/a Meijer's Supermarkets, Defendant-Appellant. |
| Court | U.S. Court of Appeals — Sixth Circuit |
Michael H. Carpenter, Carpenter & Lipps, Columbus, Ohio, for Appellant.
Richard N. Selby, Dworken & Bernstein, Painesville, Ohio, for Appellee.
Michael H. Carpenter, Timothy R. Bricker, Carpenter & Lipps, Columbus, Ohio, for Appellant.
Richard N. Selby, Dworken & Bernstein, Painesville, Ohio, John H. Metz, Cincinnati, Ohio, for Appellee.
Before: KEITH, MOORE, and GILMAN, Circuit Judges.
KEITH, J., delivered the opinion of the court, in which MOORE, J., joined. GILMAN, J., (pp. 362-65), delivered a separate dissenting opinion.
Defendant-Appellant, Meijer, Inc., appeals the jury verdict for Plaintiff-Appellee, Amber McCombs, in a sexual harassment lawsuit based on Ohio state law and Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. Defendant-Appellant also appeals the award of attorneys' fees and costs by the district court. Based on the following reasons, we AFFIRM the district court's decision as to all issues on appeal.
Defendant-Appellant, Meijer, Inc. ("Meijer"), owns and operates grocery and general merchandise retail stores. Plaintiff-Appellee, Amber McCombs ("McCombs"), was an employee in the meat department in one of Meijer's stores in West Chester, Ohio, from October 1996 until January 1998. William Pound ("Pound") was also employed by Meijer at the same location from at least May 1997 until his termination on December 10, 1997. McCombs alleges that Pound sexually harassed her and that Meijer failed to address this problem.
McCombs first encountered Pound in May 1997, when he informed her that he had told his wife (who was also an employee of Meijer) that the two of them were having an extramarital affair. He warned McCombs that she was in danger of being "beat up" by his wife. McCombs informed her supervisor, Steve Dolan ("Dolan"), of this threat.1 McCombs was unaware of any action taken by Dolan to resolve this problem. Approximately two months later, in July 1997, Pound was transferred from the grocery to the meat department. McCombs and Pound became friendly toward each other, and McCombs joined several of her co-workers to help clean Pound's home because his wife had recently given birth. McCombs also admits that Pound and his children "came over"2 for Halloween.
Notwithstanding McCombs's cordial attitude towards him, Pound consistently made inappropriate remarks to her again during the fall of 1997. For example, Pound told McCombs explicit sexual fantasies that involved the two of them, that he liked her "ass," that he wanted to kiss her breasts, that she aroused him, and that he wanted her to have a "threesome" with him and his wife. McCombs testified that she informed various employees about Pound's behavior, including her direct supervisor, Dolan, and "Department 10," which handles sexual harassment complaints. None of these employees responded and, instead, they dissuaded her from making a written complaint because it might lead to Pound's termination.
At trial, McCombs testified that Pound touched her buttocks on November 23, 1997. It was her belief that this unprovoked and improper touching "crossed the line." As a result, McCombs reported this incident to Department 10 and a written complaint was logged on November 25, 1997, at 10:00 p.m. In addition to the improper touching of her buttocks, McCombs claimed that the harassment had been occurring for "a long time and [she] want[ed] it stopped." Def.'s Ex. 7.
On November 26, McCombs and Pound were scheduled to work together. One of Meijer's investigative detectives questioned Pound about the incidents alleged in McCombs's complaint. Pound admitted that he touched McCombs but viewed it "as a pat on the back," and also admitted that he told McCombs that he liked "the way that her legs went up to her butt," that he wanted to kiss her on her breast, and that she aroused him. After Pound had been interviewed regarding the sexual harassment allegations and admitted much of his behavior, Meijer allowed him to return to work in the meat department with McCombs. While McCombs was working, Pound entered into the area behind the meat counter. As he entered, Pound stared at McCombs and kicked open the doors by way of a "karate kick." McCombs testified that this made her frightened, so she verbally informed Dolan of this threatening incident. On December 1, 1997, Meijer warned Pound that any further actions would result in his termination.
On December 3, 1997, McCombs and Pound worked together again for the first time since November 26. Pound continued to look at McCombs and would purposely come into her work area. She was disturbed by his actions, so McCombs filed a second written complaint. The complaint filed on December 3 again referenced previous actions of Pound that McCombs found to be inappropriate, including that Pound told her that he wanted to kiss her all over and that he could hardly control himself. McCombs again stated that she wanted this harassment to stop.
On December 4, 1997, McCombs and Pound were scheduled to work together again. Prior to Pound's arrival, McCombs filed her third written complaint. In the December 4 complaint, McCombs described an incident from the prior evening where Pound walked over to the counter near McCombs, holding a bloody knife in his hand. He held the knife at face level, and stared at her while he wiped the knife (the "knife incident"). McCombs stated that this made her feel very upset and that she did not want him working near her. Her complaint stressed that Pound should not even be allowed to shop at the store "after what [Pound] said to [her] and how he touched [her]." Def.'s Ex. 9. Consequently, that same day, Pound was removed from the meat department and transferred to another department. The same day that she filed her third complaint, McCombs also filed a complaint with the local police department regarding the knife incident.3
On December 6, 1997, two days after McCombs filed her third complaint, Meijer suspended Pound from work. Pound never returned to work and was terminated on December 10, 1997.
On December 30, 1997, McCombs was suspended from work at Meijer based on an allegation that she had stolen spices and compact discs from Meijer. McCombs was then terminated on January 6, 1998, for violating Meijer's theft policy.
In May 1999, McCombs filed a complaint in the United States District Court for the Southern District of Ohio against Meijer alleging claims of sexual harassment and retaliation in violation of Ohio Revised Code § 4112, Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 ("Title VII"), and Ohio public policy,4 as well as sexual harassment under Ohio common law. After the district court denied Meijer's motion for summary judgment, the case went to trial. After an eight-day trial, on September 28, 2001, the jury returned a verdict in favor of McCombs for sexual harassment in violation of Title VII and Ohio Revised Code § 4112, but found in favor of Meijer for the retaliation claims and the sexual harassment claim filed under Ohio common law. The jury awarded McCombs $25,000 in compensatory damages and $100,000 in punitive damages. The jury also found that Meijer would be liable for McCombs's attorneys' fees.
After the verdict was entered, Meijer filed a motion for judgment as a matter of law under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 50(a), and McCombs filed a motion for attorneys' fees and costs. On March 31, 2003, the district court denied Meijer's motion for judgment as a matter of law. On April 28, 2003, the district court adopted the Magistrate Judge's recommendation and awarded McCombs $460,450 in attorneys' fees, $4,532.50 in expert witness fees, and $10,103.34 in costs. Meijer timely appealed both the denial of its motion for judgment as a matter of law and the district court's award of fees and costs. In conjunction with this appeal, McCombs filed a motion for supplemental fees related to post-trial work. On September 19, 2003, the district court adopted the Magistrate Judge's report and awarded supplemental attorneys' fees of $14,192.50. Meijer also timely appealed that decision. All three appeals have been consolidated and are now before this court.
On appeal, Meijer asserts that the district court committed four reversible errors. First, Meijer argues that the district court erred by denying it judgment as a matter of law on McCombs's sexual harassment claims and on the award of punitive damages. Second, Meijer argues that the district court erred by submitting improper instructions to the jury. Third, Meijer argues that the district court erred by making improper evidentiary rulings. Last, Meijer argues that the district court erred in its award of fees and costs. We will address each of these arguments in turn.
When a district court denies a motion for judgment as a matter of law, we review its decision de novo. White v. Burlington N. & Santa Fe Ry. Co., 364 F.3d 789, 794 (6th Cir.2004). In determining whether a motion should have been granted, we must review the entire record, we "must draw all reasonable inferences in favor of the nonmoving party, and [we] may not make credibility determinations or weigh the evidence." Reeves v. Sanderson Plumbing Prods., Inc., 530 U.S. 133, 150, 120 S.Ct. 2097, 147 L.Ed.2d 105 (2000). Judgment as a matter of law is appropriate only where "a party has been fully heard with respect to an issue and there is no legally sufficient evidentiary basis for a reasonable jury to have found for that party with respect to that issue." Fed.R.Civ.P. 50(a)(1).
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