Keisling v. SER-JOBS ( 1994 )


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    UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS
    FOR THE FIRST CIRCUIT
    ____________________


    No. 93-1406

    DANIA R. KEISLING,

    Plaintiff, Appellee,

    v.

    SER-JOBS FOR PROGRESS, INC., ET AL.,

    Defendants, Appellants.


    ____________________

    APPEAL FROM THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT

    FOR THE DISTRICT OF RHODE ISLAND


    [Hon. Raymond J. Pettine, Senior U.S. District Judge]
    __________________________

    ____________________

    Before

    Breyer, Chief Judge,
    ___________
    Boudin, Circuit Judge,
    _____________
    and Pollak,* Senior District Judge.
    _____________________

    ____________________

    Paul L. Foster for appellants.
    ______________
    Alicia Murphy with whom Rosemary Healey and Edwards & Angell were
    _____________ _______________ ________________
    on brief for appellee.


    ____________________

    March 29, 1994
    ____________________

    _____________________

    * Of the Eastern District of Pennsylvania, sitting by designation.





















    POLLAK, District Judge. This case involves a claim under the
    ______________

    Age Discrimination in Employment Act ("ADEA"), 29 U.S.C.

    sections 621 et seq. (1988), with a pendent claim under
    _______

    sections 28-5-1 et seq. of the Rhode Island General Laws. The
    _______

    plaintiff, Dania Keisling, claims that her firing by the

    corporate defendant, SER-Jobs for Progress, Inc. ("SER"), was

    the result of unlawful age discrimination on the part of SER

    and individual defendants Alma F. Green and Lois K. Turner.

    Finding liability both under ADEA and under state law, the

    jury (1) awarded Keisling $32,874 in compensatory damages

    against all three defendants, and (2) awarded Keisling $50,000

    in exemplary damages against defendant Green and $25,000 in

    exemplary damages against defendant Turner. Memorandum and

    Order at 1 (D.R.I. Mar. 11, 1993). Appendix of Defendants-

    Appellants (hereinafter "A.") 121.1 SER, Green and Turner

    now appeal. Because we conclude that the district court erred




    ____________________

    1 Rhode Island law permits the award of "punitive
    damages" in cases of discrimination involving "reckless
    indifference" to the plaintiff's rights. See R.I. Gen. L.
    ___
    28-5-29.1. Keisling sought an additional award of $32,874
    in "liquidated damages" pursuant to the ADEA, 29 U.S.C.
    626(c). The district court denied this request, reasoning
    that because liquidated damages under the ADEA are punitive
    in nature, permitting Keisling both liquidated damages under
    federal law and punitive damages under state law would
    result in a double recovery for a single wrong. A. 121-23.

    -2-




















    in excluding testimony proffered by the defendants, we reverse

    and remand for a new trial.





    I. FACTS

    The record developed at trial would support factual

    findings as follows:

    SER is a non-profit Rhode Island social service

    agency whose operations are primarily geared to Rhode Island's

    Hispanic population. Dania Keisling became an associate

    director of SER in 1984. From 1984 until mid-1989, Keisling's

    work was supervised by Carlos Pedro, SER's executive director.

    Keisling also had extensive dealings with Alma Green, who was

    the president of SER's board of directors. During this time

    period, Keisling received regular increases in pay, and as SER

    expanded its services Keisling's job responsibilities

    increased dramatically. Keisling did not receive formal

    evaluations of her performance; she testified, however, that

    "[m]any times" Green "said that I was always there and I was

    doing a real good job" and "that I was always actually running

    that agency." Transcript of Defendants-Appellants

    (hereinafter "T.") 45.




    -3-




















    In July 1989, Pedro resigned as executive director,

    and SER began the chore of finding a replacement. Both

    Keisling and Lynn Trudell, SER's other associate director,

    applied to fill the vacancy. Keisling testified that after

    she applied for the position she had at least two

    conversations with Green in which Green made age-related

    comments. As recounted by Keisling, the comments were:

    Sure, you can run that agency but do you want to do
    that at your age?

    Sure, you can run this agency and you have done it
    but do you want to do that and do you want that
    aggravation at your age?

    T. 49. Two other witnesses, an independent bookkeeper

    employed by SER and the executive director of a sister agency,

    testified that Green made similar comments about Keisling to

    them during the time that SER was searching for a new

    executive director. T. 182, 218.

    In November 1989, SER hired Dr. Lois K. Turner as

    executive consultant to the Board of Directors, a position in

    which Turner functioned essentially as interim executive

    director, supervising the daily operation of the agency in

    consultation with Green. Among other duties, Dr. Turner was

    responsible for performing an extensive review of the

    functioning of SER and for assisting in the hiring of a new

    executive director. A. 164-65. In reviewing the operation of

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    the agency, Turner purportedly discovered some problems with

    Keisling's performance. On January 19, 1990, Turner met with

    Keisling and advised her of matters that had come to Turner's

    attention. Specifically, Turner told Keisling that staff

    members had complained that Keisling had yelled at them and

    had used profanity and obscene gestures. Turner also asserted

    that Keisling had failed to complete some of her tasks in a

    timely manner. T. 58-9.

    Turner memorialized the meeting with Keisling in a

    memorandum dated February 1, 1990 -- a memorandum that

    Keisling stated she received on February 9. The memorandum

    repeated the charges of inappropriate behavior, and also set

    forth a number of alleged deficiencies in Keisling's

    performance. In the memorandum, Turner gave Keisling a

    thirty-day probationary period, beginning February 1, in which

    to demonstrate appropriate professional behavior and to

    improve her performance. A. 133, 135. Keisling responded to

    the February 1 memorandum with memoranda of her own, one to

    the Board of Directors and one to her personnel file, in which

    she attempted to refute Turner's allegations. A. 136, 138.

    On March 2, at the conclusion of the probationary

    period, Turner and Green met with Keisling and informed her

    that her employment was to be terminated. They presented


    -5-




















    Keisling with a memorandum, dated March 2, stating that Green

    and the Executive Committee of SER had endorsed Turner's

    decision to terminate Keisling's employment. A. 144. They

    also presented Keisling with a letter from Turner, also dated

    March 2, detailing additional instances of alleged

    inappropriate behavior and inadequate performance. A. 141.

    Keisling was given an opportunity to appeal her termination to

    the Board of Directors, which upheld the termination. At the

    time she was terminated, Keisling was over 40 years old.

    II. ANALYSIS

    From the jury's verdict in favor of plaintiff

    Keisling, the three defendants have appealed. Four grounds

    for appeal are advanced. Of these, it is only necessary to

    address two in detail.2 First, defendants claim that the

    district court erred in failing to grant their post-trial

    motion for judgment as a matter of law. Second, they argue

    that the district court committed prejudicial error in

    excluding testimony regarding age-related statements allegedly

    made by defendant Green and by Keisling herself. These

    arguments will be addressed in turn.

    A. Denial of Motion for Judgment as a Matter of Law
    ________________________________________________


    ____________________

    2 The remaining two issues are discussed infra, note
    _____
    10.

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    Defendants argue that the district court erred in

    denying their motion for judgment as a matter of law. They

    claim that Keisling failed to introduce evidence at trial

    sufficient even to establish a prima facie case of
    ____________

    discrimination, much less to carry her ultimate burden of

    proof.

    Defendants' argument suffers from two flaws. First,

    as Keisling points out, defendants failed to preserve their

    argument properly for appeal by failing to make a motion for

    judgment as a matter of law at the close of all evidence.

    Rule 50(a) of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure permits a

    motion for judgment as a matter of law to be made "at any time

    before submission of the case to the jury." Defendants, in

    compliance with this rule, made a motion for judgment as a

    matter of law at the close of Keisling's case. T. 289. That

    motion, however, was insufficient to preserve the issue that

    defendants are now seeking to present on appeal. If a

    defendant wishes to renew a motion for judgment as a matter of

    law at the post-trial stage, with a view to having denial of

    that motion considered by the court of appeals, the defendant

    is required to have moved for judgment as a matter of law at






    -7-




















    the close of all the evidence. Fed. R. Civ. P. 50(b).3

    Requiring the motion to be made at the close of all the

    evidence gives the opposing party an opportunity to respond to

    any evidentiary deficiencies noted by the motion by seeking to

    reopen the evidence prior to submission of the case to the

    jury. See Fed. R. Civ. P. 50(a) advisory committee's note
    ___

    (1991). This court therefore has held that it will not

    consider claims of insufficient evidence unless the district

    court was presented with a motion for judgment as a matter of

    law at the close of all the evidence. See Jusino v. Zayas,
    ___ _______________

    875 F.2d 986, 991 (1st Cir. 1989).

    At oral argument, defendants contended that the rule

    of Jusino should not apply in the present case. They claimed
    ______

    that the comments of the district judge in denying defendants'

    motion at the close of plaintiff's case led them to believe

    that their motion was preserved for post-verdict consideration

    by both the district court and this court, and that their


    ____________________

    3 Rule 50(b) of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure
    states:

    Whenever a motion for a judgment as a matter of law
    made at the close of all the evidence is denied or for
    any reason is not granted, the court is deemed to have
    submitted the action to the jury subject to a later
    determination of the legal questions raised by the
    motion.


    -8-




















    reasonable reliance on the district judge's comments removed

    the necessity for a renewed motion at the close of all the

    evidence.4

    We are far from persuaded that the district judge's

    comments could reasonably have been taken as an assurance by

    the judge that defendants need not move for judgment as a

    matter of law at the close of all the evidence. However,

    assuming arguendo that defendants did not read too much into
    ________

    the judge's comments, defendants' asserted reliance on those

    comments was, nonetheless, insufficient to obviate the need

    for conformity with the requirement that the adequacy of the

    ____________________

    4 The comments of the district judge on which
    defendants claim to have relied were as follows: First,
    after hearing argument on the defendants' motion, the court
    stated:

    That's a tough standard and I think applying that
    standard, I think, counsel for the plaintiff was
    correct in her assertions and I will deny your motion
    in that regard and of course note an exception for you.

    T. 309. Shortly thereafter, after a brief discussion of the
    standards for the imposition of punitive damages on a
    corporation, the court stated:

    Maybe we are not going to resolve this case until after
    the jury returns a verdict. If they return a verdict
    for the plaintiff, I can see where I'm going to have
    some very interesting post-trial briefs. If they
    return a verdict for the defendant, then the Appellate
    Court can worry about it from that point on.

    Appendix at T. 313.


    -9-




















    plaintiff's case be challenged at the close of all the

    evidence. To be sure, the obligation to conform to the

    requirement is not absolute, but this court has emphasized

    that only very unusual circumstances will justify treating a

    motion at the close of the plaintiff's case as a surrogate for

    a motion at the close of all the evidence. Those

    circumstances -- which, we have said, constitute a "very

    narrow exception," Della Grotta v. Rhode Island, 781 F.2d
    _______________________________

    343, 350 (1st Cir. 1986), to the rule that the motion be

    renewed at the close of all the evidence -- are presented "in

    a case ... combining judicial assurance concerning

    preservation of rights at the time of the motion and ... brief

    and inconsequential evidence following the motion. . . ."

    Bayamon Thom McAn, Inc. v. Miranda, 409 F. 2d 968, 972 (1st
    ___________________________________

    Cir. 1969); Beaumont v. Morgan, 427 F.2d 667, 670 (1st Cir.
    __________________

    1970). In the present case, whatever reliance the district

    court's statements may have induced, the evidence that

    defendants presented following the district court's ruling on

    their motion was undeniably substantial and relevant to the

    issues raised in the motion. If defendants believed,

    following the presentation of their case, that the totality of

    the evidence permitted only one conclusion, it was incumbent

    upon them to make that belief known to the court and to permit


    -10-




















    Keisling an opportunity to respond prior to the submission of

    the case to the jury. Having failed to come within the "very

    narrow exception" of Della Grotta, Bayamon and Beaumont,
    ____________ _______ ________

    defendants have waived the right to contend before this court

    that they are entitled to judgment as a matter of law.

    Second, even if defendants had preserved the right

    to present their argument to this court, they have failed to

    meet the stringent standards necessary for judgment as a

    matter of law. A court is without authority to set aside a

    jury verdict and direct the entry of a contrary verdict unless

    the evidence points so strongly and overwhelmingly in favor of

    the moving party that no reasonable jury could have returned a

    verdict adverse to that party. See Acevedo-Diaz v. Aponte, 1
    ___ ______________________

    F.3d 62, 66 (1st Cir. 1993). In determining whether this

    standard has been met, the court must examine the evidence in

    the light most favorable to the non-moving party; in addition,

    the non-moving party is entitled to "the benefit of all

    inferences which the evidence fairly supports, even though

    contrary inferences might reasonably be drawn." Cochrane v.
    ___________

    Quattrocci, 949 F.2d 11, 12 n.1 (1st Cir. 1991) (quoting
    __________

    Continental Ore Co. v. Union Carbide & Carbon Corp., 370 U.S.
    ____________________________________________________

    690, 696 (1962)), cert. denied, --- U.S. ---, 112 S. Ct. 2965
    ____________

    (1992).


    -11-




















    Under the now-familiar standard first set forth in

    McDonnell Douglas Corp. v. Green, 411 U.S. 792, 802 (1973),
    __________________________________

    and later adapted for cases under the ADEA, a plaintiff may

    establish a prima facie case by showing that (1) she was over
    ___________

    40 years of age, (2) she suffered an adverse job action, (3)

    her job responsibilities were assumed by another person,

    demonstrating the employer's continuing need for an individual

    of the plaintiff's skills, and (4) she was qualified for the

    position that she held and performing well enough to rule out

    the possibility that the adverse job action was for inadequate

    job performance.5 See Olivera v. Nestle Puerto Rico, Inc.,
    ___ ____________________________________

    922 F.2d 43, 45 (1st Cir. 1990). Defendants concede that

    Keisling established the first two elements of the prima facie
    ___________

    case, namely that she was over 40 years of age and that she

    was terminated by SER. They argue, however, that Keisling

    failed to introduce sufficient evidence to establish the final

    two elements of the prima facie case, and that they are
    ___________

    therefore entitled to judgment as a matter of law.




    ____________________

    5 This court does not require a plaintiff under the
    ADEA to establish, as an element of her prima facie case,
    ___________
    that she was replaced by an individual younger than herself,
    or by someone outside the protected class. See Hebert v.
    ___ _________
    Mohawk Rubber Co., 872 F.2d 1104, 1110 n.10 (1st Cir. 1989).
    _________________


    -12-




















    Defendants argue that Keisling failed to establish

    the third element of the prima facie case, namely, that her
    ___________

    job responsibilities were assumed by another. In making this

    argument, defendants note that SER did not hire a replacement

    for Keisling. This fact, however, is not determinative.

    Keisling presented evidence that Lynn Trudell, SER's other

    associate director, assumed Keisling's duties after Keisling's

    discharge. This evidence is sufficient to show, for the

    purpose of establishing a prima facie case, that SER had a
    ____________

    "continued need for the same services and skills." Loeb v.
    _______

    Textron, Inc., 600 F.2d 1003, 1013 (1st Cir. 1979); see also
    _____________ ________

    Kale v. Combined Ins. Co. of America, 861 F.2d 746, 760 (1st
    _____________________________________

    Cir. 1988). Keisling was not required to show that SER hired

    a replacement or specifically designated an existing employee

    as such. See Loeb, 600 F.2d at 1013 n.11. Defendants have
    ___ ____

    failed to show that, viewing the evidence in a light most

    favorable to Keisling, no reasonable jury could conclude that

    Keisling established the third element of the prima facie
    ____________

    case.

    Defendants also argue that Keisling failed to

    establish the fourth element of the prima facie case, namely,
    ___________

    that her performance was sufficient to meet the legitimate

    expectations of SER. Defendants contend that the only


    -13-




















    evidence Keisling offered of her acceptable job performance

    was her own assessment of her achievements and abilities.

    Defendants are correct that such evidence, standing alone, is

    insufficient to establish the fourth element of the prima
    _____

    facie case; indeed, were evidence of this type sufficient, it
    _____

    is a rare plaintiff who would fail to establish a prima facie
    ___________

    case. Defendants fail, however, to take into account the

    entirety of Keisling's evidence. Keisling testified that

    while employed at SER, her responsibilities were increased

    substantially, she received positive feedback (e.g., from

    defendant Green) regarding her performance, and she received

    regular pay increases. Keisling also introduced a favorable

    letter of recommendation written by SER's former executive

    director, Carlos Pedro. It is true that this evidence does

    not extend fully to the time at which Keisling was discharged.

    The evidence does, however, support an inference that

    Keisling's job performance at the time of her discharge was

    adequate to meet SER's legitimate needs. Keisling thus

    succeeded in establishing the fourth element of the prima
    _____

    facie case.
    _____

    Defendants note that they introduced evidence that,

    at the time of her discharge, Keisling's job performance was

    inadequate. They argue that Keisling failed to overcome this


    -14-




















    evidence, and that this failure amounted to a failure to

    establish a prima facie case. This argument fails to
    ____________

    apprehend the burden-shifting structure of an ADEA case.

    Under McDonnell Douglas, the burden initially is on the
    __________________

    plaintiff to establish all the elements of the prima facie
    ___________

    case. Once the plaintiff has done so, the burden of

    production shifts to the defendants, and the defendants are

    required to present evidence of a legitimate reason for the

    adverse job action taken against the plaintiff, evidence that

    explodes the presumption of discrimination created by the

    prima facie case. If the defendants carry their burden of
    ___________

    production, the plaintiff must respond to the defendant's

    evidence and demonstrate that the adverse action suffered by

    the plaintiff was indeed the product of illegal

    discrimination. See St. Mary's Honor Ctr. v. Hicks, --- U.S.
    ___ ______________________________

    ---, 113 S. Ct. 2742, 2747 (1993). The shifting of the burden

    of production in an ADEA case does not always correspond

    neatly to the orderly presentation of evidence at trial.

    Thus, it is not unusual for a plaintiff to introduce in her

    case-in-chief evidence that, within the McDonnell Douglas
    _________________

    framework, is best understood as responsive to evidence

    introduced by defendants to counter the prima facie case. The
    ___________

    fact that a plaintiff introduces such evidence in her case-in-


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    chief, rather than waiting for the defendants to present their

    case, does not mean that anticipation and rebuttal of the

    defendants' case constitute an element of the prima facie
    ____________

    case. To hold otherwise would belie the assertion of the

    Supreme Court that the burden of establishing a prima facie
    ___________

    case is "not onerous." See Texas Dep't of Community Affairs
    ___ _________________________________

    v. Burdine, 450 U.S. 248, 253 (1981); see also Mesnick v.
    ___________ ________ __________

    General Elec. Co., 950 F.2d 816, 823 (1st Cir. 1991);
    ___________________

    Villanueva v. Wellesley College, 930 F.2d 124, 127 (1st Cir.),
    _______________________________

    cert. denied, --- U.S. ---, 112 S. Ct. 181 (1991).
    ____________

    Viewed in this manner, the proper question for

    defendants to ask is not whether Keisling has failed to

    establish a prima facie case, but rather whether Keisling has
    ___________

    failed to carry the ultimate burden of persuasion upon

    consideration of all the evidence presented at trial. For the

    purposes of this appeal, we must conclude that Keisling

    succeeded in meeting her burden. Granted, the evidence of

    discrimination that Keisling presented was far from

    overwhelming. It is certainly conceivable that a reasonable

    jury, viewing all the evidence, could conclude that Keisling's

    discharge was a legitimate response to inappropriate on-the-

    job behavior, or even that her discharge, while unfair, was

    not the product of illegal age discrimination. It seems to


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    us, however, that a determination of the cause for Keisling's

    termination requires a weighing of the credibility of

    defendants' witnesses, who described Keisling's alleged

    inappropriate behavior, against that of Keisling, who denied

    that she ever behaved improperly. Such assessments are

    peculiarly within the province of the jury. An appellate

    court may not interpose a judgment different from that

    obtained at trial simply because it disagrees with the jury's

    credibility determinations. See Nydam v. Lennerton, 948 F.2d
    ___ __________________

    808, 810 (1st Cir. 1991).

    In sum, both because defendants' post-trial motion

    for judgment as a matter of law was procedurally defective and

    because it was, on the record made at trial, inapposite, we

    conclude that the district court did not err in denying the

    motion.

    B. Exclusion of Testimony Concerning Statements by
    ____________________________________________________

    Plaintiff and Defendant Green
    _____________________________

    During the presentation of defendants' case,

    defendants presented testimony by SER's former executive

    director, Carlos Pedro. In the course of Pedro's testimony,

    defendants' counsel questioned Pedro concerning statements

    made by both Keisling and defendant Alma Green. In

    particular, defendants' counsel sought to elicit from Pedro


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    statements by Keisling and Green to the effect that each

    respectively was getting too old to endure the travails of

    their jobs. Defendants' counsel posed the question in two

    forms, as follows:

    Q: During from [sic] the period of 1987 until 1989
    when you were employed at the agency, did you have
    occasion, while in the presence of Alma Green or
    Dania Keisling, to hear conversation where the words
    to the effect were [sic] "I'm getting too old for
    this crap or too old for this stuff" were used?

    Q: In 1987 until 1989 when you left the agency,
    Mr. Pedro, did you ever hear conversation in the
    agency where reference to age was used?

    T. 514-15. Keisling's counsel objected to both questions as

    calling for hearsay responses, and the district court

    sustained the objections. Defendants now claim that the

    exclusion of the testimony was error warranting a new trial.

    We agree. Rule 801(c) of the Federal Rules of

    Evidence defines hearsay as "a statement, other than one made

    by the declarant while testifying at the trial or hearing,

    offered in evidence to prove the truth of the matter

    asserted." In counsel's questions to Pedro, counsel plainly

    was attempting to elicit from Pedro testimony concerning

    statements made out of court; to that extent, the hearsay







    -18-




















    rules were implicated.6 The alleged statements of Keisling

    and Green were not being offered to prove the truth of the

    matter asserted, however. Defendants did not ask Pedro about

    the statements in an attempt to prove that Keisling and Green

    were, indeed, too old for their jobs. Rather, in seeking to

    elicit Pedro's testimony as to statements by Green, defendants

    would have invited the jury to infer that this was a common

    form of speech for Green, one that she applied to herself as

    well as to others, and that when she directed similar comments

    at Keisling she did not do so with discriminatory animus. And

    if Pedro were to have testified that Keisling herself had made

    similar comments,7 that might have strengthened the inference

    ____________________

    6 Defendants' assertion that the questions did not
    call for a hearsay response because they simply required a
    "yes" or "no" answer is flawed. A party cannot evade the
    dictates of the hearsay rules simply by having an attorney,
    rather than the witness, present the alleged out-of-court
    statement and then asking the witness, "Is that what you
    heard?" To the extent that the questions posed called for
    Pedro to affirm or deny the content of an out-of-court
    statement, the questions fell within the purview of Rule
    801.


    7 Keisling contends that defendants did not argue to
    the district court that Keisling herself had made comments
    referring to her age, and that defendants therefore cannot
    present that argument to this court. Keisling's contention
    is plainly wrong. Not only does the initial question posed
    by defendants' counsel directly refer to statements by
    Keisling, but in the colloquy that followed the questions,
    defendant's counsel told the court, in response to the
    court's determination that the questions called for hearsay,

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    that Green's comments were devoid of animus. As defendants

    contend in their brief, such testimony could have provided a

    predicate for arguing "that whatever comments green [sic] and
    ___

    Keisling may have made regarding being 'too old' for this job

    were not reflections of age 'animus' but rather indicative of

    frustration with a difficult job in a difficult economic

    environment." Appellants' Brief at 17. Because the

    statements were not offered to prove the truth of the matter

    asserted therein, they were not hearsay within the meaning of

    Rule 801(c).8

    In addition to establishing that the proffered

    testimony was not hearsay, defendants must establish that they

    were prejudiced by the exclusion of the testimony. See
    ___

    Fernandez v. Leonard, 963 F.2d 459, 465 (1st Cir. 1992). We
    ____________________

    believe that they have done so. As we have said, Keisling's

    evidence of discrimination, while sufficient to withstand a

    ____________________

    "[I]n the case that those statements are attributed to
    either a defendant or a plaintiff, I believe they are
    clearly admissible." T. 515-16. That argument may not have
    been a model of clarity, and it is true that counsel did not
    elaborate with respect to statements by Keisling. Counsel's
    presentation was, however, sufficient to preserve the
    argument made on this appeal.


    8 Of course, from the standpoint of hearsay doctrine, an
    out of court statement by the plaintiff, when offered by the
    defendant, is not hearsay even if offered for the truth of
    the matter asserted. Fed. R. Evid. 801(d)(2)(A).

    -20-




















    motion for judgment as a matter of law, was hardly

    overwhelming. The testimony proffered by defendants and

    erroneously excluded as hearsay is itself not powerful stuff.

    It is, however, relevant to the issue of whether defendants

    acted with discriminatory animus in discharging the plaintiff.

    The testimony was offered in an attempt to rebut the sole

    direct evidence of discriminatory animus that Keisling

    presented. In a close case, depending on the assessment of

    the testimony by the jury, that testimony might be enough to

    tip the balance.9 We therefore conclude that a new trial is

    warranted.10

    ____________________

    9 Keisling argues that the testimony, even if
    admissible, was duplicative, because Green herself testified
    that she frequently made comments along the lines of "I'm
    getting too old for this crap." To the extent, however,
    that the testimony of Pedro might have (1) reinforced the
    credibility of Green's testimony, which was plainly in her
    self-interest, and (2) shown that Keisling herself made
    similar comments, the testimony would not have been simply
    duplicative.


    10 Defendants raise two additional issues on appeal.
    First, they argue that the district court erred in excluding
    a document entitled "Since Original Warning," which
    purported to list 18 deficiencies in Keisling's performance
    following the original warning that Keisling received.
    Defendants argue that the document is admissible as a
    business record kept in the ordinary course of business that
    was considered by the SER Board of Directors in making the
    decision to terminate Keisling. The district court excluded
    the document. It concluded that the document represented
    cumulative evidence, because Turner herself testified at
    length concerning Keisling's deficiencies and the

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    III. CONCLUSION

    Having concluded that the trial in this matter was

    flawed due to the prejudicial exclusion of relevant testimony,

    we vacate the judgment entered by the district court and

    remand for a new trial.


















    ____________________

    presentation that Turner had made to the Board of Directors.
    In addition, while the court apparently did not rely on this
    point, the court noted that there was evidence that the
    document had been prepared after Keisling's termination.
    Since we have decided on other grounds that a new trial is
    warranted, we are not required to resolve the issue.
    Nonetheless, given that the issue is likely to recur in any
    new trial, we think it appropriate to note that, on the
    record before this court, it appears that the district
    court's decision to exclude the document did not represent
    an abuse of discretion.
    Second, defendants argue that they are
    entitled to a new trial because the jury's verdict was
    against the weight of the evidence. As we are ordering a
    new trial on other grounds, we find it unnecessary to
    address this issue.



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