Rutherford v. Harris County Texas

• Decision Date: 29 November 1999
• Docket Number: No. 98-20623,98-20623
• Citation: 197 F.3d 173
• Parties: (5th Cir. 1999) GWYNNETH RUTHERFORD, Plaintiff-Appellee, v. HARRIS COUNTY, TEXAS, Defendant-Appellant
• Court: U.S. Court of Appeals — Fifth Circuit

Page 173

197 F.3d 173 (5th Cir. 1999)

GWYNNETH RUTHERFORD, Plaintiff-Appellee, v. HARRIS COUNTY, TEXAS, Defendant-Appellant.

No. 98-20623

IN THE UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS, FIFTH CIRCUIT

November 29, 1999

REVISED - DECEMBER 20, 1999

[Copyrighted Material Omitted]

[Copyrighted Material Omitted]

[Copyrighted Material Omitted] Tom F. Coleman (argued), Thomas Lee Bartlett, Houston, TX, for Plaintiff-Appellee.

Bruce S. Powers (argued), Houston, TX, for Defendant-Appellant.

Appeal from the United States District Court for the Southern District of Texas

Before EMILIO M. GARZA and PARKER, Circuit Judges, and FITZWATER, District Judge.^*

FITZWATER, District Judge:

A county deputy constable who contended she had been passed over for promotion and subjected to adverse employment actions based on her sex sued her employer for discriminating against her in violation of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 ("Title VII"), 42 U.S.C. 2000e et seq. A jury found in her favor and the district court awarded damages, front pay, back pay, prejudgment interest, attorney's fees, and injunctive relief. The employer's appeal presents questions concerning the sufficiency of the evidence and the propriety of various evidentiary rulings, the jury charge, and the relief the district court awarded. We affirm in part, reverse and remand in part, and vacate and remand in part.

I

Plaintiff-appellee Gwynneth Rutherford ("Rutherford"), whom defendant-appellant Harris County, Texas ("Harris County") employed as a STEP¹ deputy constable sued Harris County alleging that it was liable on various grounds under Title VII for discriminating against her based on her sex and retaliating against her. On motion for summary judgment, the district court dismissed her claims for discriminatory discharge, retaliation, and sexual harassment. The court denied the motion as to her causes of action for failure to promote her to a full-time deputy constable position² and for disparate treatment in various terms, conditions, and privileges of employment. The parties tried these claims to a jury, which returned a verdict in Rutherford's favor. Concerning her failure to promote claim, the jury awarded her $1.00 for emotional pain, suffering, inconvenience, mental anguish, and loss of enjoyment of life; $100,000 for lost wages in the future; and $25,000 for lost benefits in the future. It awarded her $50,000 for emotional pain, suffering, inconvenience, mental anguish, and loss of enjoyment of life for her disparate treatment claim. The parties stipulated that the district judge would decide the question of back pay. The district court entered a final judgment on May 13, 1998 awarding Rutherford damages of $175,001.00, attorney's fees of $148,775.00, injunctive relief, post-judgment interest, and court costs. In calculating attorney's fees, the district court enhanced the lodestar by a 1.5 multiplier because Rutherford's attorneys had agreed to represent her on a contingent fee basis.

After the district court entered judgment, Harris County renewed its motion for judgment as a matter of law or for new trial. The district court denied the motion. Two days later, Rutherford filed a motion for Fed. R. Civ. P. 60 relief in which she asked the court to enlarge the scope of the injunctive relief awarded and grant her back pay and prejudgment interest. Rutherford cited both Rule 60(b) and 60(a), but the gravamen of her motion was that the district court had made a clerical error in entering a final judgment that omitted this relief. Later the same day, Harris County filed a notice of appeal from the final judgment, the court's findings of fact and conclusions of law, its order denying Harris County's motion for judgment as a matter of law or for new trial, and the attorney's fee award.³

On August 17, 1998 the district court entered an order granting in part Rutherford's motion for relief from judgment. The court amended its findings of fact and conclusions of law to reflect a back pay award of $74,900, and found that Rutherford was entitled to recover prejudgment interest on the back pay. It also entered a final judgment that preserved the relief granted in the original judgment and added recoveries for back pay and prejudgment interest. Harris County filed an amended notice of appeal.

II

Harris County contends the district court erred in overruling its motion for judgment as a matter of law and abused its discretion in denying its motion for new trial.

A

We review de novo the denial of Harris County's motion for judgment as a matter of law, Deffenbaugh-Williams v. Wal-Mart Stores, Inc., 188 F.3d 278, 285 (5th Cir. 1999), applying the same standard that the district court used. Aetna Cas. &amp Sur. Co. v. Pendleton Detectives of Miss., Inc., 182 F.3d 376, 377 (5th Cir. 1999). "A court may grant a judgment as a matter of law if after a party has been fully heard by the jury on an issue, 'there is no legally sufficient evidentiary basis for a reasonable jury to have found for that party with respect to that issue.'" Id. at 377-78 (quoting Rule 50). "A court should view the entire record in the light most favorable to the non-movant, drawing all factual inferences in favor of the non-moving party, and 'leaving credibility determinations, the weighing of the evidence, and the drawing of legitimate inferences from the facts to the jury.'" Id. at 378 (quoting Conkling v. Turner, 18 F.3d 1285, 1300 (5th Cir. 1994)). "In ruling on a Rule 50 motion based upon sufficiency of the evidence, 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.'" Information Communication Corp. v. Unisys Corp., 181 F.3d 629, 633 (5th Cir. 1999) (quoting Boeing Co. v. Shipman, 411 F.2d 365, 374 (5th Cir. 1969) (en banc)). "The motion [is] properly granted '[i]f the facts and inferences point so strongly and overwhelmingly in favor of one party that the Court believes that reasonable men could not arrive at a contrary verdict.'" Id. (quoting Boeing, 411 F.2d at 374). "On the other hand, if there is substantial evidence opposed to the motions, that is, evidence of such quality and weight that reasonable and fair-minded men in the exercise of impartial judgment might reach different conclusions, the motions should be denied, and the case submitted to the jury. A mere scintilla of evidence is insufficient to present a question for the jury. The motions for [JMOL] should not be decided by which side has the better of the case, nor should they be granted only when there is a complete absence of probative facts to support a jury verdict. There must be a conflict in substantial evidence to create a jury question." Deffenbaugh-Williams, 188 F.3d at 285 (emphasis deleted) (quoting Boeing, 411 F.2d at 374-75).

We will affirm the denial of a motion for new trial "unless, on appeal, the party that was the movant in district court makes a clear showing of an absolute absence of evidence to support the jury's verdict, thus indicating that the trial court had abused its discretion in refusing to find the jury's verdict contrary to the great weight of the evidence." Whitehead v. Food Max of Miss., Inc., 163 F.3d 265, 269 (5th Cir. 1998) (emphasis deleted and internal quotation marks omitted) (quoting Hidden Oaks Ltd. v. City of Austin, 138 F.3d 1036, 1049 (5th Cir. 1998); Dawsey v. Olin Corp., 782 F.2d 1254, 1261 (5th Cir. 1986)). "[R]eview of the denial of a new trial motion is more limited than when one is granted." Id.

B

We must first decide whether Harris County is entitled to judgment as a matter of law dismissing, or to a new trial of, Rutherford's failure to promote claim.

Title VII makes it unlawful inter alia for an employer to fail or refuse to hire an individual because of her sex. Krystek v. University of S. Miss., 164 F.3d 251, 255-56 (5th Cir. 1999) (sex discrimination claim based on denial of tenure) (citing 42 U.S.C. 2000e-2(a)(1)). It is familiar jurisprudence that to prevail on her failure to promote claim, Rutherford was first obligated to establish a prima facie case. This required that she demonstrate that (1) she was not promoted, (2) she was qualified for the position she sought, (3) she was within the protected class at the time of the failure to promote, and (4) either the position she sought was filled by someone outside the protected class or she was otherwise not promoted because of her sex. See Bennett v. Total Minatome Corp., 138 F.3d 1053, 1060 (5th Cir. 1998) (addressing age discrimination formulation).⁴ Once she met this burden, her prima facie case raised an inference of unlawful discrimination. Id. The burden of production then shifted to Harris County to proffer a legitimate, nondiscriminatory reason for not promoting her. Id. When Harris County met its production burden, Rutherford became obligated to demonstrate that Harris County's articulated rationale was merely a pretext for discrimination. See id. "Under the McDonnell Douglas-Burdine framework, the parties dance an adversarial three-step, in which: (1) the plaintiff proves [her] prima facie case by a preponderance of the evidence; (2) the defendant rebuts the presumption of intentional discrimination arising from the prima facie case by articulating legitimate, non-discriminatory reasons for the challenged action; and (3) the plaintiff counters by offering evidence that the legitimate, non-discriminatory reasons are really a pretext for discrimination." Casarez v. Burlington Northern/Santa Fe Co., 193 F.3d 334, 337 (5th Cir. 1999) (footnote and citations omitted).

Harris County maintains that Rutherford did not carry her initial burden of establishing a prima facie case. It argues that Rutherford's unsatisfactory job performance in the temporary position of STEP deputy----failing to appear to testify in court on September 12, 1995, resulting in the...