Golden v. World Security Bureau, Inc.

988 F. Supp. 2d 850, 2013 WL 4441503, 2013 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 115913
CourtDistrict Court, N.D. Illinois
DecidedAugust 16, 2013
DocketCase No. 10 C 7673
StatusPublished

This text of 988 F. Supp. 2d 850 (Golden v. World Security Bureau, Inc.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, N.D. Illinois primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Golden v. World Security Bureau, Inc., 988 F. Supp. 2d 850, 2013 WL 4441503, 2013 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 115913 (N.D. Ill. 2013).

Opinion

MEMORANDUM OPINION AND ORDER

. MATTHEW F. KENNELLY, District Judge:

This case went to trial before a jury on the claims of Latrice Reed against World Security Bureau, Inc. (WSB), Ibrihim Kiswani, and Glendon Groves for race discrimination and retaliation under 42 U.S.C. § 1981.1 The jury found in favor of Reed against WSB and Groves on her claim of a racially hostile work environment but in favor of Kiswani on that claim, and it found in favor of all defendants on the retaliation claim. The jury awarded Reed $20,000 in compensatory damages against WSB and Groves, $50,000 in punitive damages against WSB, and $5,000 in punitive damages against Groves. Defendants have moved for entry of judgment as a matter of law (JMOL) or for a new trial on various grounds. For the reasons stated below, the Court denies the motion.

JMOL motion

A court may grant judgment as a matter of law when “a reasonable jury would not have a legally sufficient evidentiary basis to find for the [nonmoving] party.” Fed.R.Civ.P. 50(a)(1); see Thomas v. Cook County Sheriffs Dep’t, 604 F.3d 293, 300-01 (7th Cir.2009). The Court “do[es] not weigh evidence or assess the credibility of witnesses. Instead, [it] draw[s] all reasonable inferences in favor of the nonmoving p'arty.” Thomas, 604 F.3d at 300-01 (citations omitted).

1. JMOL — liability of WSB

To prevail on her hostile work environment claim, Reed was required to prove, among other things, that she subjectively believed the conduct in question to be harassing. WSB argues that there was insufficient evidence for the jury to find that Reed met this requirement. The Court disagrees. Reed testified that she found the conduct .at issue offensive and that it upset her, and the jury was entitled to believe her testimony. The testimony was sufficient to meet Reed’s burden.

WSB’s primary contention is that Reed did not prove the elements needed to establish employer liability (that is, WSB’s liability) for the hostile work environment. In a case of co-worker harassment, an employer is liable under a negligence standard when it knows or should know that [854]*854wrongdoing is afoot and fails to take steps reasonably designed to stop it. See, e.g., Erickson v. Wisconsin Dep’t of Corrs., 469 F.Bd 600, 607 (7th Cir.2006). In addition, “[a]n employer is not liable for co-employee racial harassment when a mechanism to report the harassment exists, but the victim fails to utilize it.” Yancick v. Hanna Steel Corp., 653 F.3d 532, 549 (7th Cir.2011).

WSB argues that there was insufficient evidence for a reasonable jury to find that Reed took reasonable steps to apprise WSB of the alleged harassing conduct. The Court disagrees. As WSB acknowledges, its employee manual stated that an employee could report harassment to “Human Resources directly, or if the employee prefers, the employee may report the complaint to his or her manager or supervisor (or any member of management).” Pl.’s Opp. to Defs.’ Mot., Ex. 2 at 5. There was evidence sufficient for a jury to find that Reed reported the alleged harassment to two supervisors (Herrera and Henley) and thus complied with WSB’s policy. In short, a jury reasonably could find that Reed utilized WSB’s reporting mechanism and that this put WSB on notice of the alleged harassment. Parkins v. Civil Constructors of Illinois, Inc., 163 F.3d 1027 (7th Cir.1998), cited by WSB, is distinguishable, because unlike in the present case the plaintiff there did not report the harassment to a supervisor authorized in the employer’s policy to receive such complaints.

WSB next contends that Reed failed to show that it did not take adequate corrective action following her complaints. WSB’s first argument in this regard is that Reed’s claim required her to prove that Kiswani failed to take adequate corrective action and that the jury’s verdict in favor of Kiswani undermines her claim. This argument is a non-starter as a basis for entry of JMOL in favor of WSB. It amounts to an argument that the jury’s verdict against WSB is inconsistent with its verdict in favor of Kiswani. But,

[a] court cannot grant [judgment as a matter of law] in order to harmonize jury verdicts that appear to point in opposite directions. See, e.g., Mosley v. Wilson, 102 F.3d 85, 90 (3d Cir.1996). If it appears that the jury returned inconsistent verdicts, the Court must first do its best to reconcile the verdicts on some theory consistent with the evidence. Gallick v. Baltimore & Ohio R.R., 372 U.S. 108, 119, 83 S.Ct. 659, 9 L.Ed.2d 618 (1963); Cantellops v. Alvaro-Chapel, 234 F.3d 741, 744 (1st Cir.2000); Ward v. City of San Jose, 967 F.2d 280, 286 (9th Cir.1992). If we cannot do so, however, it is improper to take the verdict favorable to one party and assume it is the “right” one, as [defendant] has asked us to do. Will v. Comprehensive Accounting Corp., 776 F.2d 665, 677 (7th Cir.1985). Rather, the appropriate remedy is a new trial on all claims. Gordon v. Degelmann, 29 F.3d 295, 298-99 (7th Cir.1994).

Deloughery v. City of Chicago, No. 02 C 2722, 2004 WL 1125897, at *2 (N.D.Ill. May 20, 2004) (Kennelly, J.) (internal quotation marks omitted), aff'd, 422 F.3d 611 (7th Cir.2005). In short, if the verdicts as to WSB and Kiswani could not be reconciled, then the Court would be required to grant a new trial on both claims, not enter JMOL for WSB while leaving intact the verdict in Kiswani’s favor. Thus the claimed inconsistency is not a basis to grant JMOL for WSB.

WSB has not sought a new trial based on the claimed inconsistency, and thus it has forfeited that point. But even if a request for a new trial based on the claimed inconsistency were properly before the Court, the Court would deny the [855]*855request. The evidence was sufficient to establish the requirements of employer liability completely aside from any inaction or negligent action by Kiswani.2 See generally Lambert v. Peri Formworks Sys., Inc., 723 F.3d 863, 865-68 (7th Cir.2013).

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988 F. Supp. 2d 850, 2013 WL 4441503, 2013 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 115913, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/golden-v-world-security-bureau-inc-ilnd-2013.