Sass v. Mta Bus Co.

• Decision Date: 14 February 2014
• Docket Number: No. 10–CV–4079 (MKB).,10–CV–4079 (MKB).
• Citation: 6 F.Supp.3d 229
• Parties: Gary SASS, Plaintiff, v. MTA BUS COMPANY, Defendant.
• Court: U.S. District Court — Eastern District of New York

6 F.Supp.3d 229

Gary SASS, Plaintiff,

v.MTA BUS COMPANY, Defendant.

No. 10–CV–4079 (MKB).

United States District Court, E.D. New York.

Feb. 14, 2014.

Aaron N. Solomon, The Berkman Law Office, LLC, Brooklyn, NY, Michael G. O'Neill, New York, NY, for Plaintiff.

Renee Lucille Cyr, Steve S. Efron, Law Office of Steve S. Efron, New York, NY, for Defendant.

MEMORANDUM & ORDER

MARGO K. BRODIE, District Judge:

Plaintiff Gary Sass filed the above-captioned action against his former employer Metropolitan Transportation Authority Bus Company (“MTA Bus”) for violations of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, 42 U.S.C. § 2000e et seq. (“Title VII”), the New York State Human Rights Law, N.Y. Exec. Law § 296 (“NYSHRL”) and the New York City Human Rights Law, N.Y.C. Admin. Code § 8–107 (“NYCHRL”). After a jury trial, the jury found Defendant liable and awarded damages in the amount of $358,300. Four days after the jury verdict, on June 24, 2013, the Supreme Court of the United States issued a decision in University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center v. Nassar changing the standard of proof necessary to establish a retaliation claim pursuant to Title VII. 570 U.S. ––––, ––––, 133 S.Ct. 2517, 2533, 186 L.Ed.2d 503 (2013). Based on Nassar, Defendant moved for judgment as a matter of law, or in the alternative, for a new trial. For the reasons discussed below, Defendant's motion for a new trial is granted.

I. Background

The Court assumes familiarity with the underlying facts and procedural history of this case. See Sass v. MTA Bus Co., No. 10–CV–4079, 2012 WL 4511394 (E.D.N.Y. Oct. 2, 2012). According to Plaintiff, he was terminated from his position as a bus maintenance supervisor at MTA Bus in retaliation for telling MTA Bus investigators that he had reported to his supervisor finding a bus roster with Nazi symbols superimposed on it, and that his supervisor failed to take any action. On June 17, 2013, the Court commenced a jury trial on Plaintiff's retaliation claim and after presentation of all the evidence, Defendant moved pursuant to Rule 50 of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure for judgment as a matter of law, on the basis that Plaintiff could not establish a causal connection between his termination and the protected activity. (Docket Entry No. 57, Trial Transcript (“Tr.”) 405.) The Court denied the motion on the grounds that a reasonable jury could find that Defendant's reason for the termination was pretextual, based on the differential treatment accorded to a similarly situated employee. (Tr. 413–14.) The Court instructed the jury that in order to establish liability on the claim of retaliation, Plaintiff had to prove that “one or more of his protected activities played an important role in [D]efendant's decision to terminate [P]laintiff,” and that “[P]laintiff's participation in protected activities were more likely than not a motivating factor in [D]efendant's termination of [P]laintiff.” (Tr. 586:16–24.) On June 20, 2013, the jury returned a verdict in favor of Plaintiff. Plaintiff moved for reinstatement, pension contributions, back pay and for attorneys' fees.

On June 24, 2013, the Supreme Court of the United States issued a decision in Nassar holding that “Title VII retaliation claims must be proved according to traditional principles of but-for causation,” expressly rejecting the motivating-factor standard. Nassar, 570 U.S. at ––––, 133 S.Ct. at 2533. Based on the Supreme Court's Nassar decision, Defendant renewed its motion pursuant to Rule 50 for judgment as a matter of law and, in the alternative, moved pursuant to Rule 59 for an order vacating the verdict and granting a new trial.

II. Discussion

a. Standard of Review

i. Rule 50

Rule 50 of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure allows a court to set aside a jury's verdict and grant judgment as a matter of law if the court finds that “a reasonable jury would not have a legally sufficient evidentiary basis to find” as it did. Fed.R.Civ.P. 50(a)(1). Under Rule 50(b), a party must initially move for judgment as a matter of law at the close of the presentation of all evidence in a trial, before the case is submitted to trial. If the motion is denied, the movant may file a renewed motion subsequent to the return of the jury verdict, within 28 days of the entry of judgment, and “may include an alternative or joint request for a new trial under Rule 59.” Fed.R.Civ.P. 50(b); Carrion v. Agfa Const., Inc., 720 F.3d 382, 385 (2d Cir.2013). In ruling on the renewed motion, the Court retains discretion to allow judgment on the verdict, order a new trial, or direct entry of judgment as a matter of law in favor of the movant. Fed.R.Civ.P. 50(b). “The court must consider the evidence in the light most favorable to the non-movant and ‘give that party the benefit of all reasonable inferences that the jury might have drawn in his favor from the evidence.’ ” Jones v. Town of E. Haven, 691 F.3d 72, 80 (2d Cir.2012) (quotingZellner v. Summerlin, 494 F.3d 344, 371 (2d Cir.2007)). The standard for granting judgment as a matter of law pursuant to Rule 50 “is a stringent one, and the movant may prevail only when ‘a party has been fully heard on an issue during a jury trial and the court finds that a reasonable jury would not have a legally sufficient evidentiary basis to find for the party on that issue.’ ” Velez v. City of New York, 730 F.3d 128, 134 (2d Cir.2013) (quoting Fed.R.Civ.P. 50(a)(1)); see also Reeves v. Sanderson Plumbing Products, Inc., 530 U.S. 133, 149, 120 S.Ct. 2097, 147 L.Ed.2d 105 (2000) (“Under Rule 50, a court should render judgment as a matter of law when ‘a party has been fully heard on an issue and there is no legally sufficient evidentiary basis for a reasonable jury to find for that party on that issue.’ ” (quoting Fed.R.Civ.P. 50(a))); Izzarelli v. R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Co., 731 F.3d 164, 167 (2d Cir.2013) (“Judgment as a matter of law is appropriate if, after reviewing the evidence in the light most favorable to ... the nonmovant, ‘there can be but one conclusion as to the verdict that reasonable [jurors] could have reached.’ ” (alteration in original) (quoting Samuels v. Air Transp. Local 504, 992 F.2d 12, 14 (2d Cir.1993))). “That burden is particularly heavy where, as here, the jury has deliberated in the case and actually returned its verdict in favor of the non-movant.” Cash v. Cnty. of Erie, 654 F.3d 324, 333 (2d Cir.2011) (citation and internal quotation marks omitted). “In such circumstances, a court may set aside the verdict only if there exists such a complete absence of evidence supporting the verdict that the jury's findings could only have been the result of sheer surmise and conjecture, or the evidence in favor of the movant is so overwhelming that reasonable and fair minded persons could not arrive at a verdict against it.” Id. (citation and internal quotation marks omitted).

ii. Rule 59

Pursuant to Rule 59 of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, “[a] court may grant a new trial ‘for any reason for which a new trial has heretofore been granted in an action at law in federal court....’ ” Raedle v. Credit Agricole Indosuez, 670 F.3d 411, 417 (2d Cir.2012) (quoting Fed.R.Civ.P. 59(a)(1)(A)), cert. denied,568 U.S. ––––, 133 S.Ct. 789, 184 L.Ed.2d 582 (2012). “A motion for a new trial ordinarily should not be granted unless the trial court is convinced that the jury has reached a seriously erroneous result or that the verdict is a miscarriage of justice.” Snyder v. N.Y.S. Educ. Dep't, 486 Fed.Appx. 176, 177 (2d Cir.2012) (quoting Lightfoot v. Union Carbide Corp., 110 F.3d 898, 911 (2d Cir.1997)), cert. denied,568 U.S. ––––, 133 S.Ct. 653, 184 L.Ed.2d 483 (2012). Grounds for granting a new trial include verdicts that are against the weight of the evidence, Manley v. AmBase Corp., 337 F.3d 237, 245 (2d Cir.2003), substantial errors in the admission or rejection of evidence, O & G Indus., Inc. v. Nat'l R.R. Passenger Corp., 537 F.3d 153, 166 (2d Cir.2008), and non-harmless errors in jury instructions, United States v. Kozeny, 667 F.3d 122, 130 (2d Cir.2011), and verdict sheets, Armstrong ex rel. Armstrong v. Brookdale Univ. Hosp. & Med. Ctr., 425 F.3d 126, 136 (2d Cir.2005).

b. Rule 50 Motion for Judgment as a Matter of Law

Defendant renews its motion made pursuant to Rule 50 of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure for judgment as a matter of law on the basis that Plaintiff failed to present sufficient evidence to establish a causal connection between Plaintiff's protected activity and his termination. (Docket Entry No. 51, Def. Mem. 7.) Defendant argues that under the motivating factor standard on which the jury was instructed, Plaintiff did not met his burden to establish that Defendant's legitimate, non-discriminatory explanation for Plaintiff's termination was pretext for retaliation. (Def. Mem. at 9–10.) Defendant further argues that the Court should evaluate the evidence presented by Plaintiff at trial under the “but-for” standard announced in Nassar, and that under this standard, Plaintiff could not prevail at trial “ ‘merely by showing that retaliation was one of a number of motivating factors' in his termination.” (Def. Mem. 8 (quoting Gordon v. New York City Bd. of Educ., 232 F.3d 111, 118 (2d Cir.2000))).

Defendant's argument that Plaintiff did not meet its burden under the less stringent motivating-factor standard on which the jury was instructed is the same argument that Defendant made in support of its motion for summary judgment, which motion was previously denied by the Court. See Sass, 2012 WL 4511394, at *8. In light of the evidence presented at trial, including the evidence that Plaintiff had been treated materially differently than a similarly situated employee who had not engaged in the protected activity, the Court cannot conclude that, under the motivating-factor standard, reasonable jurors could only have concluded that Plaintiff failed to meet his burden. See Izzarelli, 731 F.3d at 167.

In addition,...