Wilson v. Brinker Intern., Inc., 03-1967.

• Decision Date: 01 September 2004
• Docket Number: No. 03-1967.,No. 03-2120.,03-1967.,03-2120.
• Parties: Fawn WILSON, Appellant/Cross-Appellee, v. BRINKER INTERNATIONAL, INC., a Delaware Corporation; Chili's of Minnesota, Inc., a Minnesota Corporation, both doing business under the assumed name, Romano's Macaroni Grill, and Brinker International Payroll Corporation, Appellees/Cross-Appellants.
• Court: U.S. Court of Appeals — Eighth Circuit

382 F.3d 765

Fawn WILSON, Appellant/Cross-Appellee, v. BRINKER INTERNATIONAL, INC., a Delaware Corporation; Chili's of Minnesota, Inc., a Minnesota Corporation, both doing business under the assumed name, Romano's Macaroni Grill, and Brinker International Payroll Corporation, Appellees/Cross-Appellants.

No. 03-1967.

No. 03-2120.

United States Court of Appeals, Eighth Circuit.

Submitted: February 12, 2004.

Filed: September 1, 2004.

Rehearing and Rehearing En Banc Denied October 20, 2004.

Appeal from the United States District Court for the District of Minnesota, David S. Doty, J.

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Leslie L. Lienemann, argued, St. Paul, MN (Celeste E. Culberth and Lisa C. Stratton on the brief), for appellants/cross-appellees.

Scott S. Payzant, argued, Minneapolis, MN (David Jordan-Huffman on the brief), for appellees/cross-appellants.

Before MELLOY, McMILLIAN, and COLLOTON, Circuit Judges.

MELLOY, Circuit Judge.

Fawn Wilson sued the defendants under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, 42 U.S.C. § 2000e et seq., and under the Minnesota Human Rights Act, Minn.Stat. chapter 363A. She alleged she was constructively discharged after having endured sexual harassment, gender discrimination, and retaliation. A jury returned a verdict for Wilson on her sexual harassment claim but against her on her other claims. The jury awarded nominal compensatory damages and imposed a punitive damages award against the defendants on her sexual harassment claim. However, in its rulings on the parties' post-trial motions, the district court¹ entered judgment in favor of the defendants because, by special verdict form, the jury found that Wilson's claim was untimely. For the reasons stated below, we affirm.

I. FACTUAL BACKGROUND

Wilson claimed that the defendants, sometimes collectively referred to as Macaroni Grill, created a sexually hostile work environment in violation of state and federal law by failing to remedy and by tolerating the behavior of Wilson's co-worker, Derrick McAlister. McAlister and Wilson were both cooks at a Macaroni Grill restaurant and worked together from 1996 until mid-1998, for about two weeks in September of 1998, and, finally, for two weeks in February of 1999. During portions of this time, Wilson claims McAlister made lewd and degrading sexual comments to and about Wilson and other female employees, grabbed Wilson's buttocks, rubbed his erect penis against her, and crudely referred to female servers' and customers' bodies. Wilson presented evidence that she reported this offensive behavior to various Macaroni Grill managers. In addition, manager Chad Solheid witnessed several acts of McAlister's harassment but, according to Wilson, laughed or did nothing about it because, Wilson maintains, he feared McAlister would sue the company.

Wilson also alleged that other Macaroni Grill employees' behavior contributed to the hostile environment. For instance, manager Solheid kept Playboy magazines in his office. Wilson testified that, on one occasion, she informed him that she was offended by the magazines and that other female employees probably were similarly offended. In response to her concerns, Wilson claimed that Solheid asked her whether she liked the cover model's breasts. He also asked Wilson once whether she was attracted to Cindy Crawford. And on yet another occasion, Wilson contends that McAlister and manager Russ Butler watched a pornographic video in the bar area of the restaurant after business hours while Wilson attempted to work at the computer.

After a jury trial, the jury returned a verdict for $0 compensatory damages and $163,400 punitive damages. Wilson had not requested a nominal damages instruction, but upon receiving the verdict, the trial judge instructed the jury that it must award some amount of compensatory damages if it wanted to award punitive damages. The jury reconvened and altered its verdict to include a $1 nominal damages award in addition to the punitive damages award.

In their answer to Wilson's complaint, the defendants asserted that Wilson's claim was time-barred because it was not filed within Title VII's 300-day filing requirement. Wilson repeatedly sought a ruling on this question, including in a motion for judgment as a matter of law made at the close of the defendants' case. The court denied that motion and ultimately decided to send the question to the jury. The jury was asked whether "any act of harassment" occurred during the statutory time periods, and the jury responded "no." Therefore, the district court entered judgment in favor of the defendants, having concluded that Wilson's sexual harassment claim was time-barred under both federal and state law.

On appeal, Wilson argues that there is uncontroverted and unimpeached evidence that an act contributing to a hostile work environment occurred within the limitations periods. Therefore, she argues that the district court erred in denying her motion for judgment as a matter of law on this issue. Moreover, she argues that the court improperly placed the burden on her to prove her compliance with the statute of limitations when, as an affirmative defense, the burden should have been placed on the defendants to prove that her lawsuit was time-barred. In addition, she maintains that the instructions misstated the law when they asked whether "any act of harassment" occurred within the statutory time periods and not whether an act contributing to the hostile environment occurred within those time frames.

The defendants cross-appeal and argue that the district court erred in ruling that each defendant was liable as Wilson's "employer"; that the issue of punitive damages should not have gone to the jury; that even if the evidence was sufficient to support a jury question on punitive damages, the award should be remitted; and that the district court erred in admitting the testimony of a Macaroni Grill employee who suffered harassment at the hands of McAlister after Wilson resigned.

II. DISCUSSION

A. Denial of Motion for Judgment as a Matter of Law

Title VII requires that a plaintiff file a discrimination charge with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission within 300 days "after the alleged unlawful employment practice occurred." 42 U.S.C. § 2000e-5(e)(1). Under the Minnesota Human Rights Act, a plaintiff has one year to file a charge. Minn.Stat. § 363A.28(3). The Supreme Court has previously determined that the Title VII administrative charge period is functionally equivalent to a statute of limitations. Zipes v. Trans World Airlines, Inc., 455 U.S. 385, 393, 102 S.Ct. 1127, 71 L.Ed.2d 234 (1982). Consequently, a claim is time-barred if it is not filed within these time limits. Wilson filed her EEOC charge on July 28, 1999. Therefore, the critical dates for purposes of the filing requirements are July 28, 1998 under state law and October 2, 1998 under federal law.

At the jury instruction conference and again at the close of the defendants' case, Wilson moved for judgment as a matter of law on the issue of timeliness. The district court denied her motions and decided to send the fact-related issues surrounding the statute of limitations defense to the jury. Jury Questions Nos. 4 and 6, respectively, asked, "Did any act of harassment occur after October 2, 1998?" and "Did any act of harassment occur after July 28, 1998?" Wilson did not object to the substance of the instructions but rather opposed their submission to the jury. The jury answered these questions in the negative, and on appeal Wilson reasserts her argument that no reasonable fact-finder could have concluded that no act contributing to her sexual harassment claim occurred within the relevant time frame.

Pursuant to 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." Fed.R.Civ.P. 50(a)(1); see also Weisgram v. Marley Co., 528 U.S. 440, 447-48, 120 S.Ct. 1011, 145 L.Ed.2d 958 (2000). In considering Wilson's appeal of the district court's denial of her Rule 50 motion, we review the district court's ruling de novo, viewing the evidence "`in the light most favorable to the party who prevailed before the jury.'" City of Omaha Employees Betterment Ass'n v. City of Omaha, 883 F.2d 650, 651 (8th Cir.1989) (quoting Pumps & Power Co. v. S. States Indus., 787 F.2d 1252, 1258 (8th Cir.1986)). Moreover, "we review the district court's decision to grant or deny judgment as a matter of law with great deference to the jury's verdict." Fletcher v. Price Chopper Foods of Trumann, Inc., 220 F.3d 871, 875 (8th Cir.2000). "This Court will not set aside a jury verdict `unless there is a complete absence of probative facts to support the verdict.'" MacGregor v. Mallinckrodt, Inc., 373 F.3d 923, 927 (8th Cir.2004) (quoting Browning v. President Riverboat Casino-Missouri, Inc., 139 F.3d 631, 634 (8th Cir.1998)). Accordingly, we must:

(1) resolve direct factual conflicts in favor of the nonmovant, (2) assume as true all facts supporting the nonmovant which the evidence tended to prove, (3) give the nonmovant the benefit of all reasonable inferences, and (4) deny the motion if the evidence so viewed would allow reasonable jurors to differ as to the conclusions that could be drawn.

Larson by Larson v. Miller, 76 F.3d 1446, 1452 (8th Cir.1996) (en banc) (quoting Pumps & Power Co., 787 F.2d at 1258). And while we must refrain from making credibility assessments inconsistent with the jury's findings and must give credence to the evidence favoring the nonmovant, we must also consider "evidence supporting the moving party that is uncontradicted and unimpeached, at least to the extent that that evidence comes from disinterested witnesses." Phillips v. Collings, 256 F.3d 843, 847 (8th Cir.2001). Judgment as a matter of law is appropriate only when the record contains "`no proof beyond...