LANGE v. ANCHOR GLASS CONTAINER CORPORATION

CourtDistrict Court, S.D. Indiana
DecidedJuly 30, 2024
Docket4:20-cv-00160
StatusUnknown

This text of LANGE v. ANCHOR GLASS CONTAINER CORPORATION (LANGE v. ANCHOR GLASS CONTAINER CORPORATION) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, S.D. Indiana primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
LANGE v. ANCHOR GLASS CONTAINER CORPORATION, (S.D. Ind. 2024).

Opinion

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF INDIANA NEW ALBANY DIVISION

CORY B. LANGE, ) ) Plaintiff, ) ) v. ) Case No. 4:20-cv-00160-TWP-KMB ) ANCHOR GLASS CONTAINER ) CORPORATION, ) ) Defendant. )

ENTRY ON PENDING MOTIONS

This matter is before the Court on several pending motions. In addition to filing Motions in Limine (Filing No. 143), Defendant Anchor Glass Container Corporation ("Anchor Glass") has filed a Motion to Exclude Witness (Filing No. 141), Motion for Separation of Non-Party Witnesses (Filing No. 147), Motion for Leave to Preserve Non-Party Testimony (Filing No. 149), as well as various objections to several of Plaintiff Cory B. Lange's ("Lange") pretrial filings (Filing No. 151, Filing No. 152, Filing No. 153). The lawsuit concerns Lange's claim that Anchor Glass' refusal to hire him was unlawful racial discrimination. This case is scheduled for trial on August 26, 2024. The Court makes the following rulings in advance of the final pretrial conference scheduled for July 31, 2024. For the reasons explained below, the Motions are granted in part, denied in part, and some remain under advisement. I. MOTIONS IN LIMINE AND TO EXCLUDE WITNESS ROMANIUK (FILING NO. 143, FILING NO. 141)

"[J]udges have broad discretion in ruling on evidentiary questions during trial or before on motions in limine." Jenkins v. Chrysler Motors Corp., 316 F.3d 663, 664 (7th Cir. 2002). The court excludes evidence on a motion in limine only if the evidence clearly is not admissible for any purposes. See Hawthorne Partners v. AT&T Technologies, Inc., 831 F. Supp. 1398, 1400 (N.D. Ill. 1993). Unless evidence meets this exacting standard, evidentiary rulings must be deferred until trial so questions of foundation, relevancy, and prejudice may be resolved in context. Id. at 1400–01. Denial of a motion in limine does not necessarily mean that all evidence

contemplated by the motion is admissible; rather, it only means that, at the pretrial stage, the court is unable to determine whether the evidence should be excluded. Id. at 1401. A trial judge does not bind herself by ruling on a motion in limine and "may always change [her] mind during the course of a trial." Ohler v. United States, 529 U.S. 753, 758 n.3 (2000). Anchor Glass requests evidentiary rulings that limit and exclude testimony and evidence related to the following sixteen (16) matters: A) references to other lawsuits, Equal Employment Opportunity Commission ("EEOC") charges, or administrative claims in which Anchor Glass has been named a party or defendant; B) testimony from Jennifer Romaniuk on any matter; C) testimony from Brad Lange on matters not based on personal knowledge; D) testimony from Terron Gregg, Vinnie Cooper, Liam Curtin, Sherrie Gifford, and Eric Gosmeyer on any matter; E)

documents or testimony relating to Lange's alleged diagnoses, therapy, counseling, medical or psychological conditions, and medical treatment; F) references to this case's procedural history; G) speculative testimony and witness testimony lacking evidentiary basis and not based on personal knowledge; H) hearsay testimony and documents; I) evidence, argument, or comments concerning Lange's emotional distress caused by this litigation; J) evidence of front or back pay; K) evidence or argument concerning punitive damages; L) evidence of settlement offers and negotiations; M) references to liability insurance; N) evidence of Anchor Glass' net worth and references to the relative size or wealth of the parties, including any comments that characterize this case as one involving an individual against a large corporation; O) requests that the jury stand in Lange's shoes; and P) evidence that Anchor Glass made the instant motions in limine and that the Court granted or denied them in any part. On July 26, 2024, Lange filed his response (Filing No. 148). The Court will address each request in turn. A. The motion in limine regarding references to other lawsuits, EEOC charges, or

administrative claims involving Anchor Glass is granted. Arguing that any attempt to introduce evidence of other proceedings would lack probative value and be substantially outweighed by unfair prejudice, Anchor Glass maintains that introducing such other claims and litigation would invite a "trial within a trial" (Filing No. 144 at 2 (citing for example Sims v. Mulcahy, 902 F.2d 524, 531 (7th Cir. 1990) (upholding trial court's decision to exclude evidence of another employee's termination)). "Any such purported 'me too' evidence should be excluded as irrelevant and highly prejudicial." Id. (citing in part Federal Rule of Evidence 403). Lange responds that he does not intend to offer any evidence or argument of the kind referenced but states there is "no need for Defendant’s Motion on these issues, and no need for the Court to issue any Pre-trial Order …". (Filing No. 148 at 1.)

The Court believes that a pretrial ruling is helpful. In-depth questioning, argument, and evidence regarding other proceedings has a strong potential to be confusing, misleading, and wasteful of time. If Lange believe that evidence of this nature becomes relevant and admissible for some purposes at trial, he may request an evidentiary hearing outside the presence of the jury. B. The motion in limine regarding Jennifer Romaniuk ("Romaniuk") is granted in part and denied in part, and Anchor Glass' Motion to exclude her as a witness (Filing No. 141) is denied. Anchor Glass makes the same arguments in its Motion in Limine regarding Romaniuk's testimony and Motion to Exclude her as a witness: the attorney-client privilege and work-product protections bar Romaniuk from testifying about Anchor Glass' "statements to the EEOC" (Filing No. 141 at 1 (citing Filing No. 137 at 1)). Romaniuk is an attorney and the author of Anchor Glass' Position Statement, submitted in response to Lange's EEOC Charge. Needing to defend itself from Lange's Charge of

Discrimination (the "Charge") with the EEOC, Anchor Glass hired the law firm at which Romaniuk practiced at the time. She conducted a factual investigation into the allegations against Anchor Glass and prepared the company's Position Statement. As a result, Anchor Glass contends that any information, communications, or documents Romaniuk may have from factually investigating the EEOC Charge or preparing Anchor Glass' Position Statement is protected as communications made in confidence for the purpose of obtaining legal advice from an attorney acting in a legal capacity. It further maintains that the work-product protection — which applies to attorney-led investigations when the documents at issue "can fairly be said to have been prepared or obtained because of the prospect of litigation", id. at 3 (quoting Sandra T.E. v. S. Berwyn Sch. Dist. 100, 600 F.3d 612, 622 (7th Cir. 2010)) — similarly protects these documents from

disclosure. Anchor Glass additionally asserts that Romaniuk lacks personal knowledge of any facts relevant to Lange's discrimination claim and does not meet the requirements for a lay opinion witness, i.e., that her testimony be based on her personal observations and not be within a specialized, scientific, or technical field. See id. at 4.

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LANGE v. ANCHOR GLASS CONTAINER CORPORATION, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/lange-v-anchor-glass-container-corporation-insd-2024.