Harry B. Ansell v. Green Acres Contracting Co., Inc. Paul Humberston Thomas Pisula Douglas Schiff

347 F.3d 515, 62 Fed. R. Serv. 1159, 2003 U.S. App. LEXIS 22275, 84 Empl. Prac. Dec. (CCH) 41,541, 92 Fair Empl. Prac. Cas. (BNA) 1475, 2003 WL 22451728
CourtCourt of Appeals for the Third Circuit
DecidedOctober 28, 2003
Docket02-3251
StatusPublished
Cited by121 cases

This text of 347 F.3d 515 (Harry B. Ansell v. Green Acres Contracting Co., Inc. Paul Humberston Thomas Pisula Douglas Schiff) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Harry B. Ansell v. Green Acres Contracting Co., Inc. Paul Humberston Thomas Pisula Douglas Schiff, 347 F.3d 515, 62 Fed. R. Serv. 1159, 2003 U.S. App. LEXIS 22275, 84 Empl. Prac. Dec. (CCH) 41,541, 92 Fair Empl. Prac. Cas. (BNA) 1475, 2003 WL 22451728 (3d Cir. 2003).

Opinion

OPINION OF THE COURT

SMITH, Circuit Judge.

This employment discrimination case, arising under the Age Discrimination in Employment Act (“ADEA”), 29 U.S.C. § 621 et seq., presents a question of admissibility under Federal Rule of Evidence 404(b) of a subsequent good act offered by an employer to demonstrate non-discriminatory intent-namely, the employer’s favorable treatment of another older worker. Plaintiff Harry Ansell, who was 45 years old, was terminated by his supervisor, Douglas Schiff, at Green Acres Contracting Company, Inc. (“Green Acres”). Several seasons later, Schiff hired an employee who was the same age as Ansell. Ansell argues that the evidence of this subsequent hiring is irrelevant to his employer’s intent as a matter of law. He also argues that evidence of the subsequent act was admitted for an improper purpose and that its unfair prejudice substantially outweighed its probative value. Because we conclude that the evidence was relevant and admitted for a proper purpose, and because its probative value was not substantially outweighed by unfair prejudice, we will affirm the judgment of the District Court.

I.

Green Acres performs highway maintenance work on a seasonal basis. Harry Ansell worked as a laborer and truck driver for Green Acres during each season from 1993 until 1997. At the beginning of the 1997 season, Ansell was assigned to a five person crew led by a new foreman, Douglas Schiff. Ansell was permanently laid off in December of 1997.

Ansell filed suit in April of 1999 against Green Acres, Schiff, Green Acres’ Vice President Paul Humberston, and Green Acres’ President Thomas Pisula (collectively “defendants”), seeking damages for discharge in violation of the ADEA and the Pennsylvania Human Relations Act (“PHRA”), 43 Pa. Con. Stat. Ann. § 951 et seq. 1 According to Ansell’s theory of the case, Schiff sought to increase his crew’s productivity by replacing the older members of his crew with younger workers. At trial, Ansell introduced testimony establishing that Schiff permanently laid off two truck driver/laborers on his crew. In July of 1997 Schiff replaced Roger Myers, age 47, with Scott Miller, age 26, and in December of 1997, Schiff replaced Ansell with Harry Fabian, Jr., age 28. Schiff also hired an additional worker in his twenties, Keith Summers, in July 1997 around the same time he hired Scott Miller.

Defendants responded that Schiff had legitimate, nondiscriminatory reasons for terminating Ansell and offered evidence of four incidents of insubordination involving Ansell. First, in late July of 1997, Ansell insisted that he should be assigned to drive the crew truck based on his seniority, and swore at Schiff when Schiff disagreed. Then in December, Ansell argued *519 with a state inspector about a stop and go paddle used for traffic control, refused to attend a safety meeting, and took time off from work, without permission, to go hunting.

Defendants also presented evidence regarding Schiffs treatment of employees over the age of forty. Specifically, defendants presented the testimony of Anthony Beddingfield, who, at age 45, was hired by Green Acres in August of 1999 for a temporary laborer position and assigned to Schiffs crew. Beddingfield testified that he was asked by Schiff to stay on the crew permanently, and that he was still working for Schiff at the time of trial in 2002.

Ansell filed a motion in limine objecting to any testimony by Beddingfield concerning his hiring and treatment by Schiff. 2 Ansell argued that this testimony was inadmissible “other acts” evidence, offered to show propensity under Federal Rule of Evidence 404(b). Ansell further argued that Beddingfield’s testimony was not relevant and was unfairly prejudicial. Defendants proffered that Beddingfield’s testimony was admissible to show that Schiff lacked an intent to discriminate against older workers. The District Court denied Ansell’s motion, declaring that Bedding-field’s employment was probative of Schiffs intent and that it was admissible under Rule 404(b). The District Court noted that Ansell had introduced evidence of numerous people under age 40 hired by Green Acres after Ansell was fired, and stated that “if that’s 404(b) evidence [of intent], so is this other witness.”

The ADEA and PHRA claims were tried before a jury, which returned a verdict in favor of the defendants on July 18, 2002. 3 Ansell appealed, challenging only the District Court’s decision to admit the Beddingfield testimony under Rule 404(b). We have jurisdiction over Ansell’s appeal pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1291. 4 We exercise plenary review over the District Court’s interpretation of the rules of evidence; however, assuming that the evidence could be admissible in some circumstances, we review the District Court’s decision to admit that evidence for abuse of discretion. United States v. Givan, 320 F.3d 452, 460 (3d Cir.2003). Admission of evidence is an abuse of discretion if “the district court’s action was arbitrary, fanciful or clearly unreasonable.... We will not disturb a trial court’s exercise of discretion unless no reasonable person would adopt the district court’s view.” Stecyk v. Bell Helicopter Textron, Inc., 295 F.3d 408, 412 (3d Cir.2002) (internal quotations omitted).

II.

Federal Rule of Evidence 404(b) states, in pertinent part:

*520 Other Crimes, Wrongs, or Acts.-Evidence of other crimes, wrongs, or acts is not admissible to prove the character of a person in order to show action in conformity therewith. It may, however, be admissible for other purposes, such as proof of motive, opportunity, intent, preparation, plan, knowledge, identity, or absence of mistake or accident ...

Rule 404(b) thus prohibits the admission of other acts evidence for the purpose of showing that an individual has a propensity or disposition to act in a particular manner. Gov’t of the Virgin Islands v. Pinney, 967 F.2d 912, 914 (3d Cir.1992). Such evidence may, however, be admitted if offered for a proper purpose apart from showing that the individual is a person of a certain character. Id.

The typical Rule 404(b) case presents a prosecutor in a criminal case seeking to introduce evidence of prior bad acts of a defendant. If the purpose of the evidence is to show that the conduct charged was not performed inadvertently, accidentally, or without guilty knowledge and intent (that is, for one of the specific permissible uses outlined in Rule 404(b)), it is admissible.

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347 F.3d 515, 62 Fed. R. Serv. 1159, 2003 U.S. App. LEXIS 22275, 84 Empl. Prac. Dec. (CCH) 41,541, 92 Fair Empl. Prac. Cas. (BNA) 1475, 2003 WL 22451728, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/harry-b-ansell-v-green-acres-contracting-co-inc-paul-humberston-thomas-ca3-2003.