Attakora v. District of Columbia

Procedural entryThis page is a short order in Attakora v. District of Columbia. Read the opinion of the Court — 943 F. Supp. 2d 152
District Court, District of Columbia·Decided November 20, 2015·No. Civil Action No. 2012-1413·Published

Opinion

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA

KWAKU ATTAKORA, Plaintiff, Civil Action No. 12-1413 (CKK) v.

DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA, Defendant.

MEMORANDUM OPINION and ORDER (November 20, 2015)

On November 13, 2015, the Court held the first Pretrial Conference in this case and issued oral rulings on the objections related to witnesses, exhibits, and deposition designations as set forth in the parties’ [82] Joint Pretrial Statement and Plaintiff’s [83] Errata thereto. The Court hereby INCORPORATES the oral rulings made on the record at the Pretrial Conference on November 13, 2015, and now issues this Memorandum Opinion and Order memorializing those rulings. 1 The parties raise several objections to witnesses, exhibits, and deposition designations on the basis that the evidence at issue is not relevant. The Federal Rules of Evidence generally permit the admission of “relevant evidence”— i.e., evidence having “any tendency” to make the existence of any fact of consequence more probable or less probable — provided it is not otherwise excluded by the Rules, the Constitution, or an Act of Congress, and its probative value is not “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 the needless

1 While the Court bases its decision on the record as a whole, its consideration has focused on the arguments made during the Pretrial Conference and on the following documents: Jt. Pretrial Stmt., ECF No. [82]; Pl.’s Errata to Jt. Pretrial Stmt., ECF No. [83]; Def.’s Resp. to Ct. Order, ECF No. [85]; Pl.’s Resp. in Compliance with Ct. Order Dated Oct. 26, 2015 (“Pl.’s Resp. to Ct. Order Dated Oct. 26, 2015”), ECF No [86]; Pl.’s Errata to Pl.’s Resp. to Ct. Order Dated Oct. 26, 2015, ECF No. [88]; Pl.’s Resp. in Compl. with Ct. Order Dated Nov. 9, 2015 (“Pl.’s Resp. to Ct. Order Dated Nov. 9, 2015”), ECF No. [91]; Pl.’s Errata to Pl.’s Resp. to Ct. Order Dated Nov. 9, 2015, ECF No. [92]. 1 presentation of cumulative evidence. Fed. R. Evid. 401-403. In deference to their familiarity with the details of the case and greater experience in evidentiary matters, district courts are afforded broad discretion in rendering evidentiary rulings, a discretion which extends to assessing the probative value of the proffered evidence and weighing any factors against admissibility. Sprint/United Mgmt. Co. v. Mendelsohn, 552 U.S. 379, 384 (2008). With these principles in mind, the Court turns to the specific objections raised by the parties in their Joint Pretrial Statement and discussed on the record during the Pretrial Conference.

WITNESSES Defendant raises certain objections to Plaintiff’s witnesses. The Court shall address each objection in turn. Nancy Ware. Plaintiff seeks to present testimony from Nancy Ware, who was the Executive Director of the District of Columbia’s Criminal Justice Coordinating Committee (“CJCC”) when Plaintiff was hired and evaluated Plaintiff while serving in that capacity. Defendant objects to the presentation of testimony from this witness as not relevant. The Court shall permit Plaintiff to present testimony from Ms. Ware focused on Ms. Ware’s impressions of Plaintiff’s perceived shortcomings that Mannone Butler specified as the bases for Plaintiff’s termination. Paul Quander. Plaintiff seeks to present testimony from Paul Quander, who was the Executive Director of CJCC after Ms. Ware and was CJCC’s co-chair through Plaintiff’s termination. Defendant objects to the presentation of testimony from this witness as not relevant. The Court shall permit Plaintiff to present testimony from Mr. Quander focused on Mr. Quander’s impressions of Plaintiff’s perceived shortcomings that Ms. Butler specified as the bases for Plaintiff’s termination. Diana Calderon. The Court notes that Defendant originally objected to Plaintiff listing Diana Calderon as a witness but has since withdrawn that objection. See Def.’s Resp. to Ct. Order, ECF No. [85].

2 EXHIBITS Each party raises objections to the opposing party’s exhibits. The Court shall first address Defendant’s objections to Plaintiff’s exhibits and then shall address Plaintiff’s objections to Defendant’s exhibits. Plaintiff’s Proposed Exhibits. • Plaintiff’s Exhibits 1, 2. Defendant objects to the introduction of Plaintiff’s Exhibits 1 and 2 (two CJCC staff pictures) as not relevant. Based on the discussion on the record, the Court finds the exhibits are relevant based on the Plaintiff’s cited reason for introducing the exhibits, namely demonstrating that CJCC was not a diverse workplace with respect to national origin. Moreover, Defendant indicated on the record that the admission of these exhibits would not be prejudicial to Defendant. • Plaintiff’s Exhibits 3, 4, 6-12. Defendant objects to the introduction of Plaintiff’s Exhibit 3 (E-mails dated Jun. 3, 2011 between Plaintiff and Ms. Butler), 4 (Ms. Butler’s letter dated Jan. 17, 2012, to Carol Allen of the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission), 6 (Ms. Ware’s May 2009 evaluation of Plaintiff), 7 (May, 2010 Performance Plan), 8 (E-mails regarding Plaintiff’s work performance), 9 (E-mails dated Apr. 5, 2010 between Plaintiff and Ms. Butler), 10 (Memorandum dated Apr. 14, 2011 re: written warning), 11 (E-mail dated Feb. 3, 2010 re: writing sample of Mr. Ndapu), and 12 (E-mails related to continuing professional education/conferences for Plaintiff) on the basis that the exhibits contain hearsay. The Court finds that Plaintiff may introduce the exhibits at issue if he lays the proper foundation for their admission under the business records exception pursuant to Federal Rule of Evidence 803(6) or under some other exception to the hearsay rule. The Court notes that some of the exhibits (3, 8, 9, 11, 12) include e-mail correspondence and, as such, a foundation for an exception to hearsay must be set forth for each e-mail contained within the chain of e-mails. Moreover, the Court notes that the parties should pay particular attention to the requirements for admitting an e-mail into evidence under the business records exception to the hearsay rule.

3 • Plaintiff’s Exhibit 11. Defendant also objects to the introduction of Exhibit 11 (E- mail dated Feb. 3, 2010 re: writing sample of Mr. Ndapu) on the basis that it is not relevant. The exhibit at issue is an e-mail forwarding the writing sample of a job candidate from Plaintiff to Ms. Butler. The Court shall reserve its ruling on this exhibit until after it determines whether Mr. Butler gives any conflicting testimony at trial as to whether she received the e-mail at issue. To the extent that there is no dispute regarding Ms. Butler’s receipt of the e-mail, the Court finds that the e-mail itself, which does not include a copy of the attached writing sample, is not relevant. • Plaintiff’s Exhibit 14. Defendant objects to introduction of Plaintiff’s Exhibit 14 (MedStar Washington Hospital Center records dated Aug. 7, 2012) as not relevant. The Court shall permit Plaintiff to submit a further explanation as to how the medical records filed under seal as Exhibit 14 pertain to the issue of damages. The parties are directed to adhere to the following briefing schedule. Plaintiff shall file his explanation as to the relevancy of this exhibit, if any, by no later than December 1, 2015; Defendant shall file its response, if any, by no later than December 8, 2015; and Plaintiff shall file his reply, if any, by no later than December 15, 2015. Defendant’s Proposed Exhibits.

Free access — add to your briefcase to read the full text and ask questions with AI

Attakora v. District of Columbia, (D.D.C. 2015).

Attakora v. District of Columbia (Attakora v. District of Columbia) — published by Counsel Stack Legal Research, free access to 12M+ legal documents.

Related

Sprint/United Management Co. v. Mendelsohn
552 U.S. 379 (Supreme Court, 2008)