William D. Wilson v. Am General Corporation

167 F.3d 1114, 42 Fed. R. Serv. 3d 765, 1999 U.S. App. LEXIS 1538, 75 Empl. Prac. Dec. (CCH) 45,756, 80 Fair Empl. Prac. Cas. (BNA) 1001, 1999 WL 50271
CourtCourt of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit
DecidedFebruary 4, 1999
Docket97-3442
StatusPublished
Cited by33 cases

This text of 167 F.3d 1114 (William D. Wilson v. Am General Corporation) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
William D. Wilson v. Am General Corporation, 167 F.3d 1114, 42 Fed. R. Serv. 3d 765, 1999 U.S. App. LEXIS 1538, 75 Empl. Prac. Dec. (CCH) 45,756, 80 Fair Empl. Prac. Cas. (BNA) 1001, 1999 WL 50271 (7th Cir. 1999).

Opinions

COFFEY, Circuit Judge.

Plaintiff-Appellee William Wilson was 60 years of age and had been employed by Defendant-Appellant AM General Corporation for thirteen years when he was terminated. Wilson brought suit against AM General under the Age Discrimination in Employment Act, 29 U.S.C. § 621 et seq. (“ADEA”), and alleged he was discharged because of his age. AM General responded that Wilson lost his job because of a company-wide reduction in force (“RIF”), and because of his allegedly poor relationships with a fellow AM General employee and two large AM General customers. Wilson’s case went to trial, and following the presentation of his case-in-chief, AM General moved for Judgment as a Matter of Law and the district court denied the motion. AM General proceeded to present its case, and the jury returned a verdict in favor of Wilson. Following the verdict, AM General renewed its motion for Judgment as a Matter of Law, or in the alternative moved for a new trial, and the trial court denied that motion. AM General appeals the district court’s denial of its Rule 50 motions. We Affirm.

I. BACKGROUND

AM General manufactures High Mobility Multipurpose Wheeled Vehicles (HMMWVs) for sale primarily to the United States military. In 1988, AM General management decided to examine the potential for manufacturing a commercial, nonmilitary version of the HMMWV called the HUMMER. Wilson, who had been employed by AM General for seven years, was named Manager of the HUMMER Business Development Office, and one year later, in 1989, was assigned to study and analyze the market potential for the HUMMER. Based in part on Wilson’s findings and recommendations, AM General decided to pursue the HUMMER concept and designed, manufactured, and eventually offered for sale the HUMMER product.

A few years later, in 1993, AM General realized that due to the expiration of an AM General/United States military contract in early 1995, the United States military would greatly reduce its orders for HMMWVs. AM General determined that as a result, it needed to develop a greater market share for the HUMMER, and at the same time cut the company’s operating costs. AM General’s cost-cutting measures included switching its method of pay increases for its salaried employees from percentage increases to lump sum distributions. This switch was announced during a presentation to salaried employees by James A. Armour, President of AM General. Wilson alleges, in support of his ADEA claim, that during the presentation Armour remarked that “some of the senior, more mature people ... would be surprised or would be impacted by the upcoming layoffs.”

In October of 1993, AM General began a reduction in force that would be ongoing for nearly two years. As part of the RIF, Armour directed Jeffrey C. Wright, Senior Vice President of Worldwide Marketing and Strategic Planning, to eliminate one of the four salaried employees who reported directly to Wright (“direct reports”). At that period in time, Wright had four direct reports: two individuals, ages 42 and 45, who worked in AM General’s international sales division; another director, age 62, who had other employees reporting directly to him and whose group also had been asked to reduce its staff; and Plaintiff-Appellee Wilson. During this particular timeframe, Wilson was working in the HMMWV department, where he dealt with a number of AM General customers, including the United States Army, the United States Air Force, Tank Automotive Command (“TACOM”) and others, in an effort to understand how customers used the HMMWV and to. determine what sorts of features were desirable to AM General’s customers. Wilson was also a member of a [1117]*1117team working to develop a fire truck version of the HMMWV.

In March of 1994, Wright recommended Wilson be dismissed and 60-year-old Wilson was terminated. During the meeting at which Wilson was advised of his termination, he inquired of Wright whether he was being terminated because of his poor performance, and Wright responded, “Absolutely not!”. By 1995, the RIF had resulted in the termination of 41 AM General employees.

Wilson filed a charge of age discrimination with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (“EEOC”). The EEOC issued Wilson a right-to-sue letter, and on February 21, 1995, he filed a complaint in the United States District Court for the Northern District of Indiana, South Bend Division, alleging ADEA violations. Discovery proceeded, including AM General’s filing its Fed. R.Civ.P. 26(a) Mandatory Disclosures, which identified only Jeffrey Wright and Gary Wuslich (AM General’s Vice President of Human Resources) as individuals who possessed “information regarding the decision to eliminate [Wilson’s] position.” In June of 1996, Wilson deposed Wright and Wuslich. Wright contradicted the stance he had taken at Wilson’s termination meeting (wherein he stated that Wilson’s termination had nothing to do with his performance), and for the first time alleged that Wilson’s discharge was the result of his poor working relationships with (1) Mr. Paul Goncz, the Director of AM General’s Washington lobbying operations; (2) O’Gara-Hess, the company which armed HMMWVs for the United States armed forces; and (3) TACOM, the procurement agency for the United States military and one of AM General’s principal customers.

Wilson’s two-day trial commenced on October 21, 1996. During the trial, AM General focused on providing age-neutral, nondiscriminatory reasons for Wilson’s discharge. Wright testified that because AM General was attempting to emphasize its international sales to offset the downturn in United States government sales, he chose not to terminate the two international sales employees who reported to him. Moreover, Wright testified that Wilson was the only person he could select for termination in view of the fact that the majority of his responsibilities related to U.S. military and government business, which was shrinking. And, when asked about the termination meeting with Wilson, Wright testified that at the .time of the meeting, he believed it was best not to go into specific reasons for the termination decision, but rather to sever the relationship quickly.

The company attempted to establish that Wilson’s aforementioned relationships with Goncz, O’Gara-Hess, and TACOM led to AM General’s decision to terminate Wilson. Because the depth and content of these three relationships go to the heart of this case, we summarize the relevant trial testimony as follows.

The Wilson/Goncz Relationship.

From 1991 until early 1993, Wilson reported to CEO Armour. In or about March of 1993, Armour approached Wilson and requested that he report to Paul Goncz, the director of AM General’s Government Affairs Division (a lobbying division in Washington D.C.). At trial, Wilson testified that he “had questions” about the arrangement and “fought terribly” with Armour over the reassignment, but eventually consented to the change because Armour felt it was good for the company. Wilson stated that he reported to Goncz for only seven months (until October of 1993), and admitted that he told Armour he “resented” working for Goncz, and also testified that he and Goncz had “very little” interaction and that their relationships were on a “professional” level. Wilson proceeded to describe Goncz as a “ghost boss” who knew “nothing about marketing or sales,” and who never called, wrote nor visited Wilson’s office.

Free access — add to your briefcase to read the full text and ask questions with AI

Related

Holloway v. Harris
W.D. Pennsylvania, 2025
Loizon v. Evans
N.D. Illinois, 2022
Stroup v. United Airlines
26 F.4th 1147 (Tenth Circuit, 2022)
Lisa Olivarez v. GEO Group, Inc.
844 F.3d 200 (Fifth Circuit, 2016)
Melissa Standley v. Karen Edmonds-Leach
783 F.3d 1276 (D.C. Circuit, 2015)
Davis v. Varlack Ventures, Inc.
59 V.I. 229 (Supreme Court of The Virgin Islands, 2013)
Keiju Pu v. Columbia College Chicago
934 F. Supp. 2d 964 (N.D. Illinois, 2013)
Flanagan v. Allstate Insurance
581 F. Supp. 2d 920 (N.D. Illinois, 2008)
Fischer, Barbara v. Avanade
Seventh Circuit, 2008
Fischer v. Avanade, Inc.
519 F.3d 393 (Seventh Circuit, 2008)
Lawson v. Potter
463 F. Supp. 2d 1270 (D. Kansas, 2006)
Newsome v. PENSKE TRUCK LEASING CORPORATION
437 F. Supp. 2d 431 (D. Maryland, 2006)
Serino, Ruth A. v. Potter, John E.
178 F. App'x 552 (Seventh Circuit, 2006)
Hague, Mark v. Thompson Distrib Co
436 F.3d 816 (Seventh Circuit, 2006)
Hague v. Thompson Distribution Company
436 F.3d 816 (Seventh Circuit, 2006)
Serrano v. Veneman
410 F. Supp. 2d 1049 (D. New Mexico, 2005)
Trujillo v. BD., EDUC., ALBUQUERQUE PUBLIC SCHOOLS
410 F. Supp. 2d 1033 (D. New Mexico, 2005)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
167 F.3d 1114, 42 Fed. R. Serv. 3d 765, 1999 U.S. App. LEXIS 1538, 75 Empl. Prac. Dec. (CCH) 45,756, 80 Fair Empl. Prac. Cas. (BNA) 1001, 1999 WL 50271, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/william-d-wilson-v-am-general-corporation-ca7-1999.