Palasota v. Haggar Clothing Co.

• Citation: 342 F.3d 569
• Decision Date: 03 September 2003
• Docket Number: No. 02-10844.,02-10844.
• Parties: Jimmy PALASOTA, Plaintiff-Appellant, v. HAGGAR CLOTHING CO., Defendant-Appellee,
• Court: United States Courts of Appeals. United States Court of Appeals (5th Circuit)

342 F.3d 569

Jimmy PALASOTA, Plaintiff-Appellant, v. HAGGAR CLOTHING CO., Defendant-Appellee,

No. 02-10844.

United States Court of Appeals, Fifth Circuit.

September 3, 2003.

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David John Schenck (argued), Christopher Donald Kratovil, Scott Alan Scher, Hughes & Luce, Dallas, TX, for Plaintiff-Appellant.

David J. White, Michael Prospero Maslanka (argued), Theresa M. Gegen, Hilaree A. Casada, Godwin Gruber, Dallas, TX, for Defendant-Appellee.

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

Before DAVIS, SMITH and DUHÉ, Circuit Judges.

PER CURIAM:

The sole issue before us in this age discrimination in employment case is whether the district court erred in granting Judgment as a Matter of Law to Defendant, Haggar Clothing Co. ("Haggar") after the jury returned a verdict in favor of Plaintiff Jimmy Palasota ("Palasota"). Our review of the record convinces us that the district court did err. Accordingly, we reverse the judgment of the district court, reinstate the jury verdict in favor of Palasota and remand for further proceedings.

FACTS AND PROCEDURAL HISTORY

Palasota was employed as a Sales Associate by Haggar for twenty-eight years. When terminated on May 10, 1996, he was fifty-one years old. For most of his career, Palasota oversaw one of Haggar's key accounts, Dillard's Department Stores.¹ Palasota also serviced eight J.C. Penney's key accounts and various trade accounts. He was considered an "outstanding" employee who "had great relationships with customers" and "was second to none in his sales professionalism." R. 29:37, 43.

In the 1990s, Haggar's management sought to portray a younger image for the company. R. 30:147. Haggar created the Retail Marketing Associate ("RMA") program, and transferred many of the sales functions previously performed by Sales Associates to the RMA employees.² Indeed, ninety-five percent of the RMAs were females in their late twenties and early thirties, whereas ninety-five percent of the Sales Associates were males between forty-five and fifty-five years of age. R. 29:57.

From 1993 to 1996, Haggar hired between 32 and 51 sales people, all of them RMAs and all, but four, of whom were under forty years of age. R. 29:73-74. During this same period, Haggar terminated 17 Sales Associates, all of whom were males over forty years of age. Plaintiff Ex. 81-85. Between December 1, 1996, and March 31, 1998, Haggar terminated 12 Sales Associates forty years of age or older, including Palasota, while hiring 13 new RMAs, only one of whom was over forty years of age. Plaintiff Ex. 67, 68. Haggar's chief financial officer testified that the increase in the number of RMAs and the decrease in the number of Sales Associates were related and offset each other in the company's sales budget. R. 32:508-09.

In late 1995, Haggar lost its account with Dillard's which comprised approximately 85% of Palasota's commissions. National Sales Manager James Thompson created a new territory consisting of J.C. Penney stores in Houston, San Antonio, and Austin, that would have generated 85% to 90% of Palasota's 1995 commission amount. R. 30:169; 32:479. However, Thompson left Haggar in December of 1995. Palasota contends that Thompson's replacement, Alan Burks, and Vice President of Sales/Casual Tim Lyons, refused to grant him the territory proposed by Thompson, relegating him to less lucrative trade accounts in East Texas and Louisiana.³ R. 31:325.

On February 23, 1996, Lyons told Palasota that he could accept the trade account territory or a severance package.⁴ Supp 2:5; R. 31:300-01. Palasota declined the severance offer and refused to resign. On February 23, 1996, after the meeting, Lyons sent a memo to four other members of Haggar's management. After noting Palasota's 28 years of service and his refusal to accept the severance package, Lyons wrote that "we have approximately 14 associates with this same amount of tenure who are in their early fifties or older. I strongly recommend that Human Resources look at developing a severance package for these individuals.... This could provide us the ability to thin the ranks in a fashion that will create good will and ease the anxiety of this transition period...." The memo concluded that "[t]he end result will be a sales organization that has its best people in a healthy account environment...." Lyons Dep. Ex. 16. Of the 14 associates listed in the memo, all but two subsequently ended their employment with Haggar. Supp. R. 2:16.

In March of 1996, without denying that the additional J.C. Penney stores were available, Lyons informed Palasota that he would be terminated. R. 31:301-02. On April 29, 1996, Palasota was notified in writing that his position was being "eliminated" due to a "reconfiguration of the sales force." Plaintiff Ex. 9. Following Palasota's termination, other Sales Associates were given the J.C. Penney account that Thompson had slated for Palasota, and in 1997, these Sales Associates were terminated and replaced by younger RMAs. R. 29:91-92; 33:692; Supp. R. 2:13-14.

Haggar portrays Palasota's termination as an effective resignation, resulting from his dissatisfaction with the low commission yield of his new territory and the severance package offer. Haggar notes that Palasota never told management that he believed the company was treating him unfairly or that RMAs were taking over his position. Palasota's only complaint was that he wanted 28 months' severance, rather than the standard 12 months'. Haggar disputes Palasota's testimony that Thompson and other members of management⁵ promised Palasota additional J.C. Penney stores in San Antonio, Austin, or Houston. Haggar contends that Vice President of Retail Merchandising Ray Pierce, with whom Palasota never spoke about the subject, retained sole authority to open J.C. Penney stores to Haggar's Sales Associates. R. 31:334.

Palasota produced further evidence that Haggar's management was concerned with the appearance of its aging sales force. In late 1995, Haggar's President, Frank Bracken, stated that he wanted "race horses" and not "plow horses," R. 32:477, 512, while telling Palasota that he was out of the "old school" of selling. R. 32:478. Bracken announced at a sales meeting that there was a significant "graying of the sales force." R. 31:290, 405. Alan Burks, a member of management, stated at a sales executive meeting: "Hey, fellows, let's face it, we've got an ageing, graying sales force out there. Sales are bad, and we've got to figure out a way to get through it." R. 29:66.

After his termination, Palasota filed a charge of age and sex discrimination with the EEOC, which issued a determination finding cause on the age claim. At trial, a jury found Haggar liable under the Age Discrimination in Employment Act (ADEA), 29 U.S.C. § 621 et seq., awarding Palasota $842,218.96 in backpay; the jury found no liability as to Palasota's Title VII claim.

Some months after the verdict, the district court granted Haggar's Motion for Judgment as a Matter of Law. The district court found that Palasota failed to demonstrate that Haggar had given preferential treatment to a younger employee and that evidence of treatment of other Sales Associates after Palasota left Haggar was not probative of whether age was a determinative factor in Palasota's discharge. Relying on a case predating Reeves v. Sanderson Plumbing Prods., Inc., 530 U.S. 133, 120 S.Ct. 2097, 147 L.Ed.2d 105 (2000),⁶ the court ruled that a reasonable jury could not conclude "without any inferences or presumptions" that age was a determinative factor in the company's termination decision. Further, the court found that all of the age-related comments made by Haggar's management were "stray remarks" and therefore not probative of discriminatory intent.

ANALYSIS

We review the district court's grant of judgment as a matter of law de novo. Raggs v. Miss. Power & Light Co., 278 F.3d 463, 467 (5th Cir.2002). We must examine all the evidence in the record as a whole and draw all reasonable inferences in favor of Palasota. Reeves v. Sanderson Plumbing Prods., Inc., 530 U.S. at 137, 151, 120 S.Ct. 2097 (2000). We do not, however, assess credibility of witnesses or otherwise weigh the evidence. Lytle v. Household Mfg., Inc., 494 U.S. 545, 554-55, 110 S.Ct. 1331, 108 L.Ed.2d 504 (1990).

Under the ADEA, it is "unlawful for an employer ... to discharge any individual or otherwise discriminate against any individual with respect to compensation, terms, conditions, or privileges of employment, because of such individual's age." 29 U.S.C. § 623(a)(1). "When a plaintiff alleges disparate treatment, liability depends on whether the protected trait (under the ADEA, age) actually motivated the employer's decision."⁷ In other words, the plaintiff's age "must have actually played a role" in the employer's decision making process. Id.

Where a case has been fully tried, it is unnecessary to "parse the evidence into discrete segments corresponding to the different stages" of the McDonnell Douglas framework. Scott v. Univ. of Mississippi, 148 F.3d 493, 504 (5th Cir.1998) (citation omitted). Rather, the panel should examine whether the plaintiff has met his ultimate burden of proving that the employer terminated him because of age.⁸ Id.

Judgment as a Matter of Law should not be granted unless "the facts and inferences point so strongly and overwhelmingly in the movant's favor that reasonable jurors could not reach a contrary conclusion." Flowers v. S. Reg'l Physician Servs., Inc., 247 F.3d 229, 235 (5th Cir.2001) (quotations and citations omitted). The panel must "disregard all evidence favorable to the moving party that the jury is not required to believe." Reeves, 530 U.S. at 151, 120 S.Ct. 2097; see also Fed.R.Civ.P. 50(a)(1).

Our reading of the record and the district court's opinions convinces us that it erred by: (1) holding that Palasota was required to show that a younger employee was...