Young v. Lukens Steel Co.

• Decision Date: 22 November 1994
• Docket Number: Civ. A. No. 92-6490.
• Citation: 881 F. Supp. 962
• Parties: Donald H. YOUNG, v. LUKENS STEEL COMPANY and Lukens, Inc.
• Court: U.S. District Court — Eastern District of Pennsylvania

881 F. Supp. 962

Donald H. YOUNG, v. LUKENS STEEL COMPANY and Lukens, Inc.

Civ. A. No. 92-6490.

United States District Court, E.D. Pennsylvania.

November 22, 1994.

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George P. Wood, Stewart Wood & Branca, Norristown, PA, for plaintiff.

Raymond A. Kresge, J. Anthony Messina, Pepper, Hamilton & Scheetz, Philadelphia, PA, for defendants.

MEMORANDUM AND ORDER

HUTTON, District Judge.

Presently before the Court are the defendants Lukens Steel Company and Lukens, Inc.'s (collectively "Lukens") Motion For A New Trial, or In The Alternative, For A Judgment As A Matter Of Law, defendants' Motion To Alter Or Amend Judgment, Or In The Alternative, Motion For Relief From Judgment, plaintiff's Motion To Mold The Verdict, plaintiff's Motion For Attorneys' Fees, and opposition thereto.

I. BACKGROUND

In this action, Donald Young alleged, among other things, that Lukens terminated his employment because of his age, in violation of the Age Discrimination in Employment Act ("ADEA"), 29 U.S.C. § 623(a)(1). A seven day trial was held on plaintiff's ADEA claim between June 27, 1994 and July 7, 1994. After deliberating for a day, the jury found that Lukens had violated the ADEA and returned a verdict for the plaintiff in the amount of $477,856. The verdict consisted of an award of back pay of $190,339, front pay of $283,682, and lost pension benefits of $3,835. The jury also found that Lukens had not willfully violated the ADEA, and thus, did not award liquidated damages.

On October 4, 1976, Lukens hired Young to work as a supervisor in its maintenance department. While employed by Lukens, Young received several promotions and salary increases, all of which occurred after he was forty years of age. Young's last promotion was in 1987, at which time he was promoted to the position of Superintendent of Assigned Maintenance. In late 1989, however, Young was replaced as Superintendent of Assigned Maintenance by Jack Moran ("Moran"), who was thirty-six years of age at the time. Moran had been promoted by Fred Smith ("Smith"), Manager of Maintenance. Smith was subsequently replaced as Manager of Maintenance by Mark Kamon ("Kamon"), who was thirty-six years of age at the time.

In 1991, Young, who now occupied the position of Superintendent of Trades and Crafts, reported directly to Kamon, who, in turn, reported to Smith, who then occupied the position of Vice President of Manufacturing for Lukens Steel. In September of 1991, Lukens Steel was involved in tense labor negotiations with the United Steelworkers of America and their Local 1165 ("the Union"), which represented hundreds of the company's hourly employees at the Coatesville, Pennsylvania steel plant. The negotiations concerned the parties' attempt to formulate a new collective bargaining agreement to replace the agreement that was to expire on October 1, 1991. The Union was threatening a strike. Kamon was a member of Lukens' collective bargaining committee and the Union's Vice-President, George Barrage ("Barrage"), was a member of the Union's bargaining committee.

When it began to appear that the parties would not be able to resolve their differences in time to avoid a strike, Lukens' management determined that it would be prudent to devise and discuss contingency plans to be employed in the event of a strike. In September, 1991, Moran prepared a one-page list of contingency plans, which, along with more general strike contingency plans, were disseminated as a packet by Moran to the four Maintenance Department Superintendents reporting to him, one of whom was the plaintiff.

At trial, Lukens contended that Young attempted to transmit these confidential strike contingency plans to the Union. According to Lukens, on September 17, 1993, Lois Miller, the Company's Industrial Relations Coordinator, who reported to Robert Miller, was routinely sorting and opening inter-office mail that she had retrieved from her mailbox when she discovered a hand-addressed inter-office envelope addressed to Barrage at the Union Hall. Upon opening the envelope, as was customary, she discovered a single-page typewritten note entitled "TWO FACES OF LUKENS MANAGEMENT," which contained disparaging remarks concerning the company's negotiations and which referenced the strike plans. According to Lukens, the envelope also contained a strike contingency plan. Lois Miller turned the envelope and its contents over to her superior, Robert Miller.

Robert Miller determined that the matter required further investigation. Accordingly, he turned the envelope and its contents over to Kamon. Kamon inquired of a number of maintenance department managers as to whether anyone knew the sender. Moran conveyed to Kamon that he believed the handwriting on the envelope to be Young's. After noting the similarity between the handwriting on the envelope and a handwritten report, which Young had recently prepared, Kamon determined that a handwriting expert should be consulted. But first, Kamon advised his supervisor, Smith, of the developments. Smith, Kamon and Moran concurred in the decision to have the handwriting reviewed by an expert. On September 19, 1991, Kamon received the expert Robert O'Neill's report, which opined that Young's handwriting was, in fact, on the envelope.

Subsequently, Lukens' management decided to confront Young with its discovery and also decided to terminate his employment. Accordingly, on October 4, 1991, three days after the negotiations broke off and the Union went on strike, a meeting was held concerning Young. Present at the meeting were Kamon, Moran, a human resources counselor named Dale Cansler, and the plaintiff. At the meeting Young was told that he was being terminated by Lukens. The decision to terminate Young's employment was concurred in by Moran and Smith and was formally approved by Smith's superior, Lukens' Chief Executive Officer, Robert Schall.

At trial, Young flatly denied that he attempted to send the strike contingency plans to the Union. Lukens' employees regularly use inter-office mail to communicate with the Union. According to Young, on September 10, 1991, Mr. Robin Miller instructed him to return two grievances to Barrage through inter-office mail and he did so.

Young was terminated five days after turning fifty-five years of age. He was replaced by Richard Robidoux, who was thirty-six years of age at the time he assumed the duties formerly held by Young.

II. DISCUSSION

A. Defendants' Motion For A New Trial, Or In The Alternative, For Judgment As A Matter Of Law

The defendants' motion for a new trial is pursuant to Rule 59(a) of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure. Rule 59(a) provides in pertinent part that in an action which has been tried to a jury, "a new trial may be granted to all or any of the parties and on all or part of the issues ... for any of the reasons for which new trials have heretofore been granted in actions at law in the courts of the United States...." Fed. R.Civ.P. 59(a)(1). Although the rule lacks specificity, it is well-settled that a court may order a new trial if the verdict was against the weight of the evidence or if the court committed a significant error of law. Maylie v. National R.R. Passenger Corp., 791 F.Supp. 477, 480 (E.D.Pa.), aff'd, 983 F.2d 1051 (3d Cir.1992). There are, of course, other grounds that a court may use to support an order for a new trial, but the two above-mentioned grounds are the only two upon which the defendants base their motion. Id.

1. Defendants' Claim That The Jury's Verdict Is Against The Clear Weight Of The Evidence

It is well-settled that the Court may grant a new trial if the verdict was against the weight of the evidence. Shanno v. Magee Indus. Enterprises, Inc., 856 F.2d 562, 567 (3d Cir.1988). The decision to grant or deny a new trial is "`confided almost entirely to the ... discretion ... of the trial court.'" Id. (quoting Allied Chemical Corp. v. Daiflon, Inc., 449 U.S. 33, 36, 101 S.Ct. 188, 191, 66 L.Ed.2d 193 (1980)). Because the Seventh Amendment guarantees the right to a jury trial, however, a jury's verdict is not to be lightly overturned on the ground that the verdict was against the weight of the evidence. See Williamson v. Consolidated Rail Corp., 926 F.2d 1344, 1348 (3d Cir.1991). A "`district court ought to grant a new trial on the basis that the verdict was against the weight of evidence only where a miscarriage of justice would result if the verdict were to stand.'" Dunn v. HOVIC, 1 F.3d 1362, 1364 (3d Cir.1993) (quoting Williamson, 926 F.2d at 1352); see also Roebuck v. Drexel Univ., 852 F.2d 715, 735 (3d Cir.1988). This burdensome standard has evolved so as "to ensure that a district court does not substitute its `judgment of the facts and the credibility of the witnesses for that of the jury.'" Fineman v. Armstrong World Indus., Inc., 980 F.2d 171, 211 (3d Cir.1992) (quoting Lind v. Schenley Indus., Inc., 278 F.2d 79, 90 (3d Cir.) (in banc), cert. denied, 364 U.S. 835, 81 S.Ct. 58, 5 L.Ed.2d 60 (1960)). In reaching its determination, the Court must "view all the evidence and inferences reasonably drawn therefrom in the light most favorable to the party with the verdict." Marino v. Ballestas, 749 F.2d 162, 167 (3d Cir.1984) (quoting Chuy v. Philadelphia Eagles Football Club, 595 F.2d 1265, 1273 (3d Cir.1979)).

The defendants claim that the jury's finding of intentional discrimination was against the clear weight of the evidence.¹ Before reviewing the evidence, the relevant legal standard that the plaintiff had to fulfill must be articulated.

The analytical framework applied to this case is the McDonnell Douglas/Burdine "pretext" analysis. See McDonnell Douglas Corp. v. Green, 411 U.S. 792, 93 S.Ct. 1817, 36 L.Ed.2d 668 (1973); Texas Dept. of Community Affairs v. Burdine, 450 U.S. 248, 101 S.Ct. 1089, 67 L.Ed.2d 207 (1981). In its recent decision in St. Mary's Honor Ctr. v. Hicks, ___ U.S. ___, ...