Sielaff v. Milwaukee County

546 N.W.2d 173, 200 Wis. 2d 105, 1996 Wisc. App. LEXIS 148
CourtCourt of Appeals of Wisconsin
DecidedFebruary 6, 1996
Docket95-0258
StatusPublished
Cited by2 cases

This text of 546 N.W.2d 173 (Sielaff v. Milwaukee County) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals of Wisconsin primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Sielaff v. Milwaukee County, 546 N.W.2d 173, 200 Wis. 2d 105, 1996 Wisc. App. LEXIS 148 (Wis. Ct. App. 1996).

Opinions

WEDEMEYER, P.J.

Richard Sielaff appeals from a judgment and an order entered after a jury returned a verdict in favor of Milwaukee County and Sheriff Richard E. Artison on Sielaff s discrimination complaint. Sielaff claims: (1) the trial court erred in excluding evidence of twelve promotions that Sielaff did not receive; and (2) that the County's attorney made misstatements of fact about Sielaff during her [107]*107opening statement, which were repeated by Artison during his testimony. Because the trial court did not erroneously exercise its discretion in excluding evidence of promotions that did not occur within the 300 day limitation period prescribed by § 111.39(1), Stats.,1 and because the misstatements did not prejudice Sielaffs case, we affirm.

L BACKGROUND

In October 1967, Sielaff began his employment with the Milwaukee County Sheriffs Department as a deputy sheriff I. In 1980, he was promoted to sergeant. From July 1988 through August 1992, Sielaff sought promotion to lieutenant, but never received the promotion. On February 8, 1991, Sielaff filed an age discrimination complaint with the Equal Rights Division of the Department of Industry, Labor and Human Relations. He alleged that he had been denied a promotion from sergeant to lieutenant because of his age in violation of the Wisconsin Fair Employment Act, § 111.31, et seq., Stats. Based on the 300 day limitation period contained within § 111.39(1), Stats., the department investigated only those promotions Sielaff did not receive within this 300 day time frame.

Sielaff sought further redress from circuit court on his age discrimination complaint, filing against the County and Artison in August 1992. The case was tried to a jury in September 1994. During the trial, Sielaff [108]*108attempted to introduce denied promotions beyond the 300 day limitation period. He intended to show that he had been passed over for four promotions prior to the 300 day period and eight promotions subsequent to the 300 day period. The trial court determined that evidence of these promotions should not be introduced and that Sielaff was limited to introducing evidence of the six promotions he was denied that occurred within the 300 day limitation period.

During her opening statement, counsel for the County erroneously told the jury that Sielaff had pleaded guilty to several civil service charges that had been brought against him by Artison. During his testimony at trial, Artison also erroneously stated that Sielaff had pleaded guilty. In fact, Sielaff had stipulated to the underlying facts, but was acquitted of the charges. Counsel for the County acknowledged her error in closing argument and apologized for making the misrepresentation.

The jury returned a verdict in favor of the County and Artison. Sielaff filed postverdict motions requesting that-the trial court set aside the verdict and order a new trial. The trial court denied the motions. Judgment was entered and Sielaff now appeals.

II. DISCUSSION

A. 300 day limitation period.

Sielaff claims the trial court erred in limiting his evidence to the six denied promotions which occurred within the 300 day limitation period prescribed in § 111.39(1), Stats. Sielaff contends that the four denied promotions that preceded the 300 day period and the eight denied promotions that occurred after the 300 [109]*109day period were relevant evidence showing a pattern of age discrimination.

Our standard of review on the admission and exclusion of evidence is limited to whether the trial court erroneously exercised its discretion. State v. Alsteen, 108 Wis. 2d 723, 727, 324 N.W.2d 426, 428 (1982). If a trial court applies the proper law to the established facts, we will not find an erroneous exercise of discretion if there is any reasonable basis for the trial court's ruling. Id.; Village of Shorewood v. Steinberg, 174 Wis. 2d 191, 204, 496 N.W.2d 57, 62 (1993); Steinbach v. Gustafson, 177 Wis. 2d 178, 185-86, 502 N.W.2d 156, 159 (Ct. App. 1993). Appellate courts generally look for reasons to sustain discretionary determinations. Steinbach, 177 Wis. 2d at 185-86, 502 N.W.2d at 159.

In the instant case, the trial court admitted only the six denied promotions occurring within the 300 day limitation period for several reasons. First, Sielaff, who was relying on federal case law in support of his contention that the denied promotions outside the 300 day scope were admissible, failed to provide the trial court with copies of the case law on which he relied.2 Second, after the trial when the trial court had an opportunity to review all the federal case law relied on by Sielaff, the trial court concluded that none of the case law supported allowing into evidence the denied promotions which occurred subsequent to the 300 day period. Third, in the instant case, Sielaff was armed with evidence of six denied promotions that occurred within the 300 day period. The trial court felt that six cases were [110]*110sufficient evidence to show a pattern of discrimination, if one existed, and the additional promotions were merely redundant.

Further, the trial court agreed with the County's position that allowing evidence of the four denied promotions occurring before the 300 day limitation would have forced the County to defend actions which are time-barred, and allowing evidence of the eight denied promotions occurring subsequent to the 300 day limitation would have required the County to defend actions which had not been filed with the Equal Rights Department, which is a condition precedent to suit.

It is clear from the reasons set forth that the trial court did not erroneously exercise its discretion in excluding the denied promotions that were not within the 300 day period. The trial court set forth a reasonable basis for ruling the way that it did. Accordingly, we must uphold its ruling.

B. Misstatement of fact.

Sielaff also argues that the misstatement of facts made about him by the County's counsel and Artison require a reversal of the judgment. We disagree.

In her opening statement, counsel for the County told the jury that Sielaff had pled guilty to a number of civil service charges that had been brought against him. In his testimony, Artison told the jury that Sielaff had pled guilty to the charges. The charges included violating orders of a supervisor, failing to perform duties and filing false criminal reports. All of these charges, however, were dismissed after a hearing in September 1989. This was undisputedly proven at trial. Counsel for the County conceded that her earlier [111]*111statements to the contrary were made in error. Specifically, she said:

I made this mistake and I apologize to yon. I apologize to counsel and I apologize to Richard Sielaff. I thought he had pled no contest to the charges in 1989. ... I was wrong and I apologize to you. He's pointed it out. I am apologizing, and I was wrong. We all make mistakes.

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Related

State v. McDowell
2003 WI App 168 (Court of Appeals of Wisconsin, 2003)
Sielaff v. Milwaukee County
546 N.W.2d 173 (Court of Appeals of Wisconsin, 1996)

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546 N.W.2d 173, 200 Wis. 2d 105, 1996 Wisc. App. LEXIS 148, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/sielaff-v-milwaukee-county-wisctapp-1996.