Nero v. Industrial Molding Corp.

• Decision Date: 02 March 1999
• Docket Number: No. 98-10020,98-10020
• Citation: 167 F.3d 921
• Parties: 75 Empl. Prac. Dec. P 45,768, 137 Lab.Cas. P 33,808, 22 Employee Benefits Cas. 2798, 5 Wage & Hour Cas.2d (BNA) 207 Michael NERO, Plaintiff-Appellee, v. INDUSTRIAL MOLDING CORPORATION, Defendant-Appellant.
• Court: U.S. Court of Appeals — Fifth Circuit

Page 921

167 F.3d 921

75 Empl. Prac. Dec. P 45,768, 137 Lab.Cas. P 33,808,

22 Employee Benefits Cas. 2798,

5 Wage & Hour Cas.2d (BNA) 207

Michael NERO, Plaintiff-Appellee, v. INDUSTRIAL MOLDING CORPORATION, Defendant-Appellant.

No. 98-10020.

United States Court of Appeals Fifth Circuit.

March 2, 1999.

Rehearing Denied April 5, 1999.

Donald E. Cummings, Lubbock, TX, for Plaintiff-Appellee.

Don L. Graf, William Patrick Lane, McCleskey, Harriger, Brazill & Graf, Lubbock, TX, for Defendant-Appellant.

Appeal from the United States District Court for the Northern District of Texas.

Before EMILIO M. GARZA, BENAVIDES and DENNIS, Circuit Judges.

EMILIO M. GARZA, Circuit Judge:

Defendant-Appellant, Industrial Molding Corporation ("IMC"), appeals from a judgment entered on a jury verdict holding IMC liable to Plaintiff-Appellee, Michael Nero, for violations of the Family and Medical Leave Act of 1993 ("FMLA") and the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 ("ERISA"). IMC alleges that (1) Nero presented insufficient evidence to prove that Nero's medical leave under the FMLA caused his termination; (2) the evidence did not establish that Nero's claim to medical benefits under ERISA caused his termination; (3) the district court erred in awarding liquidated damages under the FMLA; and (4) the FMLA and ERISA do not entitle Nero to out-of-pocket expenses or mental anguish damages. We reverse the district court's ruling on the out-of-pocket expenses and mental anguish damages, and affirm as to all other rulings.

I

Michael Nero worked as an interim plant manager for IMC, a plastics molding company in Lubbock, Texas. IMC had hired Dean Hall to review and to restructure the manufacturing department, and Hall testified that he determined that Nero was not the right person for plant manager. Dean Hall conferred with supervisory personnel Harker Collins, IMC's Executive Vice President, and Mary Pierce, IMC's Vice President of Human Resources. Hall, Collins, and Pierce testified that by May 25, 1995, they had decided to terminate Nero, effective May 31, due to substandard management practices and the department restructuring. Amy Willingham and Jess Truelock, employees in the Human Resources department, testified that Nero's termination package, which included the standard severance pay, had been completed by May 26. IMC selected Andy Wilson to replace Nero as plant manager, effective June 1.

Before IMC notified Nero of his termination, Nero suffered a heart attack on May 29. After open heart surgery, Nero remained in the hospital for nine days. Due to the heart attack, supervisory personnel postponed telling Nero of his May 31 termination, deciding instead to notify Nero upon his return from his leave of absence. Upon his return in mid-July, IMC offered Nero the option either to retain employment as a shift supervisor and receive half the plant manager salary, or to work as a shift supervisor for ninety days while looking for other employment and receive the full plant manager salary. Nero could not make a choice and returned home. Pierce called later to tell him that IMC would offer a third option of terminating his employment immediately, with two months severance pay. Nero received all options in writing, and ultimately chose to terminate his employment immediately.

Nero filed a suit in federal court, alleging that his termination violated the Age Discrimination in Employment Act ("ADEA"), the Americans with Disabilities Act ("ADA"), the FMLA, and ERISA. See 29 U.S.C. § 626(c) (ADEA); id. § 1132(a) (ERISA); id. § 2617(a)(2) (FMLA); 42 U.S.C. § 12117(a)(ADA). He alleged that IMC's decision to terminate him did not occur prior to his heart attack, but rather occurred because of the heart attack and the claimed medical benefits. Prior to the heart attack, he had received "up to expectations" ratings on his weekly performance evaluations. Nero insisted that a discrepancy in a termination document proved the termination decision occurred after the heart attack. He contends that the inclusion of one of the employment options on the "payroll status change form" proves that IMC doctored the document and that IMC's reasons for termination are a pretext. The document, which IMC prepared allegedly on May 26, includes the option of two months severance pay. Nero insists this option was not considered until his termination in July.

At the conclusion of Nero's case, IMC moved for judgment as a matter of law, and the court denied the motion. IMC renewed the motion before the case was submitted to the jury. The court again denied the motion. After deliberation, the jury returned a verdict against Nero on the ADEA and ADA claims, and in favor of him on the FMLA and ERISA claims. The jury found that the decision to terminate Nero did not take place prior to May 29, that IMC violated the FMLA in its dealings with Nero, and that the claimed employee medical benefits were a cause of his termination. ¹ The jury awarded Nero $41,439.00 in past lost wages and employee benefits, $11,000.00 in mental anguish damages, and $5,166.00 in out-of-pocket expenses. IMC moved for judgment as a matter of law, which the district court denied. Upon Nero's motion, the district court entered judgment in the amount of $119,661.20, which included liquidated damages, ² together with attorney's fees of $27,025.34. IMC appeals from the judgment.

II

IMC appeals from the district court's denial of its motion under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 50(a) for Judgment as a Matter of Law. IMC argues the court should have granted its motion because there was insufficient evidence that IMC violated the FMLA or that it terminated Nero due to his claim to medical benefits under ERISA. We review a Motion for Judgment as a Matter of Law de novo, and apply the same legal standard as the trial court. See Omnitech Int'l, Inc. v. Clorox Co., 11 F.3d 1316, 1322-23 (5th Cir.1994). On a motion under Rule 50(a), we consider "all of the evidence--not just that evidence which supports the non-mover's case--but in the light and with all reasonable inferences most favorable to the party opposed to the motion." Boeing Co. v. Shipman, 411 F.2d 365, 374 (5th Cir.1969) (en banc). Granting the motion is proper if we believe that the facts and inferences point so strongly in favor of IMC that reasonable men could not arrive at a contrary verdict. See id.

IMC contends that the claims under the FMLA and ERISA are subject to the burden-shifting method of McDonnell Douglas Corp. v. Green, 411 U.S. 792, 93 S.Ct. 1817, 36 L.Ed.2d 668 (1973). We have stated, however, that after a case has been tried on the merits, the McDonnell Douglas formula is not applicable. See Molnar v. Ebasco Constructors, Inc., 986 F.2d 115, 118 (5th Cir.1993). Rather, we engage in " 'traditional sufficiency-of-the-evidence analysis' to determine whether reasonable jurors could find discriminatory treatment." Travis v. Board of Regents of the Univ. of Tex. Sys., 122 F.3d 259, 263 (5th Cir.1997) (quoting Rhodes v. Guiberson Oil Tools, 75 F.3d 989, 993 (5th Cir.1996) (en banc)), cert. denied, --- U.S. ----, 118 S.Ct. 1166, 140 L.Ed.2d 176 (1998). "We focus our inquiry on whether the record contains evidence upon which a reasonable trier of fact could have concluded as the jury did." Molnar, 986 F.2d at 118 (citations omitted).

A

The jury found that IMC failed to comply with the FMLA in its dealings with Nero. The FMLA provides, in part, that an employee "shall be entitled, on return from [a qualified] leave--(A) to be restored by the employer to the position of employment held by the employee when the leave commenced; or (B) to be restored to an equivalent position with equivalent employment benefits, pay, and other terms and conditions of employment." 29 U.S.C. § 2614(a)(1). The FMLA also provides that, "[n]othing in this section shall be construed to entitle any restored employee to ... any right, benefit, or position of employment other than any right, benefit, or position to which the employee would have been entitled had the employee not taken leave." 29 U.S.C. § 2614(a)(3). We consider whether the jury's finding is supported by the evidence. See Haschmann v. Time Warner Entertainment Co., 151 F.3d 591, 604 (7th Cir.1998) (reviewing jury verdict that defendant violated FMLA); Cline v. Wal-Mart Stores, Inc., 144 F.3d 294, 301 (4th Cir.1998) (same).

The thrust of IMC's argument is that Nero was not entitled to be restored as acting plant manager because IMC terminated him before the heart attack. See Tuberville v. Personal Fin. Corp., No. 3:95CV150-B-A, 1996 WL 407571, at * 3 (N.D.Miss. June 5, 1996) ("[W]here the wheels of termination were put in motion before the request for leave, the court finds that the restoration provision should not apply"). IMC argues that there is insufficient evidence to support the jury's verdict because there is insufficient evidence that IMC made the decision to terminate Nero after the heart attack.

The jury found that IMC did not make the decision to terminate Nero prior to the medical leave, and there is evidence to support this finding. Supervisory personnel Collins, Hall, and Pierce testified that the decision to terminate Nero occurred before his heart attack, and that IMC terminated Nero for sub-standard managerial practices and because he had trouble getting along with other employees. The weekly evaluations of Nero, however, do not document strained relations between him and other employees; Nero received ninety-two "up to expectations" ratings, only two "below expectations" ratings, and six "above expectations" ratings as a plant manager. Additionally, Hall rated Nero "up to expectations" at Nero's last evaluation, conducted May 24, during which Hall walked through the building in a cursory fashion and talked pleasantries. Hall testified that he gave Nero an "up to expectations" rating because Hall had decided previously to terminate Nero and Hall did not wish...