Rogers v. Clay

103 F. App'x 808
CourtCourt of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit
DecidedJune 29, 2004
Docket03-30948
StatusUnpublished

This text of 103 F. App'x 808 (Rogers v. Clay) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Rogers v. Clay, 103 F. App'x 808 (5th Cir. 2004).

Opinion

PER CURIAM: *

Appellant, Leslie V. Rogers, brought this claim of gender discrimination against her former employer, Clay’s RV Center, Inc., under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, 42 U.S.C. § 2000e et seq. Following a jury trial, the district court entered judgment in favor of Clay’s RV Center, Inc. On appeal, Rogers asserts that the district court erred by refusing to grant her post-verdict motion for judgment as a matter of law. Finding no plain error as to the claims raised by Rogers, we AFFIRM the judgment of the trial court.

Factual & Procedural History

Leslie Rogers was employed as a salesperson by Clay’s RV Center, Inc. (“Clay’s RV”), a small recreational vehicle dealership, from October 1997 through May 1998. Other persons employed by Clay’s RV while Rogers worked there were: Michael Clay, 11% owner and manager of *809 Clay’s RV’s West Monroe office; two to three salespersons, all of whom were male aside from Rogers; and Karen Coates, an administrative assistant.

At trial, Rogers claimed the work environment at Clay’s RV was hostile toward women. She stated that she was prohibited from using company vehicles as the men did, and that she was not issued a company sports jacket, as were the male salespersons. Rogers testified that the male salespersons were rude to the females on staff, but related well to one another. She also accused Mr. Clay of occasional physical forcefulness, and of commenting that women were not permitted entry into the storage room because it was a men’s club.

Rogers testified that Mark Dent, a salesperson, frequently remarked that women should not be working at Clay’s RV — that it was a man’s business where women did not belong. Rogers related an incident in which Dent allegedly berated Karen Coates and told her to limit her work to her “little secretarial duties.” Coates testified that she reported the incident to Mr. Clay, who said he would speak to Dent. Coates was fired shortly thereafter, purportedly for economic reasons.

According to Rogers, another male salesperson, Bill Delrio, regularly acted in a harassing manner toward women. Rogers testified that Delrio often made sexual comments. She also stated that on April 1, 1999, Delrio came into her office and accused her of stealing one of his customers. Delrio allegedly called Rogers a “backstabber,” a “cheater,” and a “bitch,” and shouted at her for some time. Rogers testified that, as a result, she became afraid to be alone in the building with Delrio.

Mr. Clay was out of town at the time of the April 1 incident with Delrio, but returned to the Louisiana office in mid-April. Rogers reported Delrio’s behavior to Mr. Clay on his second day back in the office. Rogers testified that Mr. Clay cut short her discussion of Delrio’s alleged outburst, told her to get over it, and to get back to her work. Rogers allegedly approached Mr. Clay a second time about Delrio; Clay allegedly responded that Rogers had “yet to see a temper.” Rogers claimed that shortly after she reported the incident, she stopped receiving phone messages from her customers, family, or friends.

Rogers alleged that on May 6, 1999, she was dismissed from Clay’s RV. Rogers testified that Mr. Clay entered her office, informed her that he was interviewing candidates for her sales position, and instructed her to leave. She stated that when she attempted to retrieve her personal belongings and sales records from her desk, Mr. Clay forcibly knocked her away from her desk, grabbed her wrists, and pushed her out the front door. She claimed that Mr. Clay laughed as he locked the door behind her. Rogers complained to the local sheriffs department about Mr. Clay’s behavior, but never followed up on that complaint. Rogers filed the instant action on August 13, 2001.

In response to Rogers’s claims, Clay’s RV denied that Rogers had been subjected to a hostile work environment. It also denied that Rogers was fired. Rather, Mr. Clay accused Rogers of abandoning her job, and testified that he had planned to replace Rogers with a new salesperson due to poor work performance on Rogers’s part. Clay’s RV further denied that any perceived termination was based on gender discrimination.

After a trial on the merits, the jury found that: (1) Rogers had been subjected to a hostile work environment because of her gender; (2) Clay’s RV knew of or should have been aware of the hostile envi *810 ronment but failed to take prompt remedial measures; and (3) Rogers had failed to take advantage of reasonable opportunities to minimize or eliminate the objectionable conduct or hostile environment. Judgment was entered in favor of Clay’s RV on June 9, 2003.

On September 3, 2003, Rogers moved for judgment as a matter of law under Fed. R. Civ. Pro. 50, or in the alternative, for a new trial under Fed.R.CivP. 59, arguing that Clay’s RV presented no evidence to support the jury’s finding that she had been provided opportunities to minimize discriminatory conduct, but had failed to take advantage of those opportunities. The district court denied her motion. Rogers timely appealed.

Standard of Review

On appeal, Rogers contends that the district court erred in denying her post-verdict motion for judgment as a matter of law. 1 Generally, we review the denial of a motion for judgment as a matter of law de novo. Deffenbaugh-Williams v. WalMart Stores, Inc., 188 F.3d 278, 285 (5th Cir.1999). However, Rogers failed to move for judgment prior to the close of all evidence and before the case went to the jury, as required by Fed.R.CivP. 50. A movant who fails to request judgment as a matter of law under Rule 50(a) at the close of all of the evidence, before the matter goes to the jury, “waives its right to file a renewed post-verdict Rule 50(b) motion, and also waives its right to challenge the sufficiency of the evidence on appeal.” See United States ex rel. Wallace v. Flintco Inc., 143 F.3d 955, 960 (5th Cir.1998) (citing Bay Colony, Ltd. v. Trendmaker, Inc., 121 F.3d 998, 1003 (5th Cir.1997); Polanco v. City of Austin, Tex., 78 F.3d 968, 974 (5th Cir.1996); Allied Bank-West, N.A. v. Stein, 996 F.2d 111, 114-15 (5th Cir.1993)). Accordingly, we treat Rogers’s request for judgment as a matter of law as raised for the first time on appeal, and review only for plain error. See Adames v. Perez, 331 F.3d 508, 511 (5th Cir.2003). Under the plain error standard, we must uphold the jury’s verdict if any evidence was presented to support the verdict. See id.

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