Weyers v. Lear Operations Corp.

• Decision Date: 24 February 2004
• Docket Number: No. 02-3732.,02-3732.
• Citation: 359 F.3d 1049
• Parties: Pamela WEYERS, Plaintiff/Appellee, v. LEAR OPERATIONS CORPORATION, doing business as Lear Corporation, Defendant/Appellant, Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, Amicus on Behalf of Appellee.
• Court: U.S. Court of Appeals — Eighth Circuit

359 F.3d 1049

Pamela WEYERS, Plaintiff/Appellee, v. LEAR OPERATIONS CORPORATION, doing business as Lear Corporation, Defendant/Appellant, Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, Amicus on Behalf of Appellee.

No. 02-3732.

United States Court of Appeals, Eighth Circuit.

Submitted: May 14, 2003.

Filed: February 24, 2004.

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Counsel who presented argument on behalf of the appellant was Paul N. Venker of St. Louis, MO. Terry Lueckenhoff and Jeffrey M. Linihan of St. Louis appeared on the brief.

Counsel who presented argument on behalf of the appellee was Stephen C. Thornberry of Kansas City, MO. Martin M. Meyers of Kansas City appeared on the brief.

Counsel who presented argument on behalf of amicus in support of appellee was Susan L.P. Starr of the EEOC of Washington, D.C.

Before WOLLMAN and BEAM, Circuit Judges, and NANGLE,¹ District Judge.

WOLLMAN, Circuit Judge.

Pamela Weyers sued her former employer, Lear Operations Corporation (Lear), alleging that she had been discriminated against on the basis of her age in violation of the Age Discrimination in Employment Act (ADEA), 29 U.S.C. §§ 621-634, and the Missouri Human Rights Act (MHRA), Mo.Rev.Stat. §§ 213.010-213.137. A jury found in her favor and awarded Weyers more than one million dollars in damages on her harassment and termination claims. The district court denied Lear's motion for judgment as a matter of law or, in the alternative, for a new trial, but granted Lear's request for remittitur. Judgment was entered in the amount of $718,962. Lear appeals, raising numerous grounds for relief. We reverse and remand for new trial.

I. Background

Lear operates an assembly plant in Liberty, Missouri, where it produces vehicle seats for Ford Motor Company. Lear's Liberty facility has a unionized workforce, and, pursuant to the union contract, Lear's new employees are subject to a ninety-day probationary period.

Lear hired Weyers, who was then 43 years old, on November 29, 1999. Weyers was assigned to work the night shift in the Liberty facility's "rear department," which operated two rear seat production lines. Lear's management hierarchy consisted of a night shift superintendent, night shift supervisors for each department or area, and team leaders, who assisted the supervisors. The team leader was responsible for assigning tasks on the assembly line and for ensuring that the line ran according to schedule. A union employee, the team leader was paid forty cents more per hour than other assembly line workers. When Weyers was hired, the night shift superintendent was Tony Mendez. The night shift supervisor for the rear department was initially Matt Smith, who was later replaced by Bill Courteville. Ben Brosius was Weyers's first team leader. He was removed from that position in mid-January 2000 because of objections from the Union that as a junior employee he should not have been permitted to bid for the position of team leader.

Night shift superintendent Mendez explained the "just-in-time" production schedule that Lear had with Ford, describing it as a "two-hour window between us and Ford.... [T]he seats we're building for that day will be put in the trucks that day.... [I]t's very key for the [production] lines to keep moving.... One seat can hold up a load.... I'll have them, basically, down my throat.... My boss being called and his boss and even into corporate...."

Night shift supervisor Courteville echoed Mendez's description of the "just-in-time" production schedule, adding that Lear was subject to a financial penalty if its failure to meet Ford's seat requirements resulted in halting Ford's production line. In a word, then, the continuous, timely production of called-for seats was essential to Lear's ability to comply with the terms of its contract with Ford.

From all accounts, Brosius was an aggressive team leader, exhorting his co-employees by loud, sometimes profane (e.g. "move your asses"), language to complete their assigned tasks quickly. Accordingly, to one employee, "Ben bugged everybody.... He was always yelling at people, telling them speed up and everything. Not really picking on anybody." In night shift supervisor Courteville's words, "Ben was an aggressive guy. He attacked the job, whatever job he was on. Ben outbuilt anybody in any area he was ever in."²

Weyers testified that Brosius began making age-based comments about her "early in [her] employment with Lear," "almost immediately." Weyers explained that most of these comments were made when Brosius was talking with other employees and she was nearby. According to Weyers, several co-workers advised her that they, too, had overheard Brosius make ageist remarks directed at her. Weyers also testified that Brosius treated her differently from the way he treated younger employees, both in terms of training and work assignments. Several of Weyers's co-workers corroborated her testimony regarding the ageist comments, inadequate training, and differential treatment. One co-worker testified that the comments had occurred "multiple times."³

Mendez conducted written reviews of Weyers's performance in January and February of 2000, recording his evaluations on a Hire Plan Progress Report. This report indicated that Brosius had conducted three prior reviews of Weyers's performance.

On February 25, 2000, shortly before the conclusion of Weyers's ninety-day probationary period, Mendez terminated her employment, citing her poor performance. Shortly thereafter, Weyers filed a charge of discrimination with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) and the Missouri Commission on Human Rights. After exhausting her administrative remedies, Weyers brought suit in the United States District Court for the Western District of Missouri, alleging age and sex discrimination in violation of both federal and state law. The district court granted Lear's motion for summary judgment on Weyers's sex discrimination claims, and the age discrimination claims proceeded to trial.

While cross-examining Weyers, Lear's counsel sought to impeach her with her prior sworn statement to the EEOC. Weyers objected, and the district court prohibited Lear from using the prior statement. Noting that it also included references to the sex discrimination claims that were no longer part of the case, the district court concluded that the statement would confuse the jury by "mix[ing] up the gender and the age discrimination issue."

The jury returned a verdict against Lear, finding that Weyers had been subjected to harassment because of her age and terminated because of her age. On the harassment claim, the jury awarded $125,000 in actual damages and $500,000 in punitive damages. On the termination claim, the jury awarded $68,962 in actual damages and $125,000 in punitive damages. The punitive damage awards were made pursuant to the MHRA. The jury also found Lear's conduct to be willful with respect to both the harassment and termination claims. This finding entitled Weyers to liquidated damages equal to her actual damages, pursuant to 29 U.S.C. § 626(b).

After the verdict was rendered, Lear moved for judgment as a matter of law or, in the alternative, for a new trial. Although it rejected most of Lear's post-trial arguments, the district court agreed that remittitur was appropriate. Noting that the jury was not informed as to the consequences of its willfulness finding, the court recognized that "the ADEA liquidated damages may [have] be[en] duplicative of the MHRA punitive damages." Thus, the court ordered remittitur on the harassment claim in the amount of $225,000, which was equal to the ADEA liquidated damages plus $100,000 of the MHRA punitive damage award. On the termination claim, the court ordered remittitur in the amount of $68,962, which was equal to the ADEA liquidated damages. Weyers accepted remittitur, and judgment was entered in the amount of $718,962.⁴ This appeal followed.

II. Analysis

As one might expect in a hard-fought trial of this nature, the evidence was sharply conflicting on the principal issues of fact. Weyers and her witnesses portrayed her as a conscientious employee, willing to work and eager to learn. Lear's witnesses described Weyers as a lackadaisical worker at best, slow in her work and slow in returning to work after breaks, and more concerned about the condition of her fingernails than about the quality and quantity of her work product.

A. Exclusion of Evidence

Lear contends that the district court erred by prohibiting it from impeaching Weyers with her prior sworn statement to the EEOC. This statement, which both parties refer to as Exhibit 36, includes an EEOC Questionnaire and a typewritten attachment, both of which were prepared by Weyers. Lear contends that the events described in this statement are materially different in number and degree from her trial testimony. Thus, Lear argues, it was entitled to inform the jury of what it characterizes as the "convenient evolution of [Weyers's] story" and that it suffered severe prejudice as a result of the district court's ruling.

In denying Lear's motion for a new trial, the district court concluded that the EEOC statement was properly excluded under Federal Rule of Evidence (Rule) 403, which permits the exclusion of relevant evidence "if its probative value is substantially outweighed by the danger of unfair prejudice, confusion of the issues, or misleading the jury, or by considerations of undue delay, waste of time, or needless presentation of cumulative evidence." Fed.R.Evid. 403. The court also determined that even if the statement had been erroneously excluded, the error did not affect Lear's substantial rights.

There is no doubt that the EEOC statement was relevant to the issue of witness credibility. See Arnold v. Groose, 109 F.3d 1292, 1297 (8th Cir.1997) ("To have evidentiary value for its inconsistency, the contradiction need not be direct. `The cases have developed a standard of minimal...