Hamed v. Macy's West Stores, Inc.
Filing
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ORDER by Judge Joseph C. Spero Denying 181 Macy's Renewed Motion for Judgment as a Matter of Law (jcslc2, COURT STAFF) (Filed on 10/17/2011)
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UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
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NORTHERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA
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SHOKAT HAMED,
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Plaintiff,
For the Northern District of California
United States District Court
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No. C 10-2790 JCS
ORDER DENYING MACY’S RENEWED
MOTION FOR JUDGMENT AS A
MATTER OF LAW
v.
MACY’S WEST STORES, INC. and DOES 150,
[Docket No. 181]
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Defendants.
______________________________________/
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I.
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INTRODUCTION
Following a six day jury trial, a verdict was entered in favor of Plaintiff Shokat Hamed
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(“Plaintiff”). Defendant Macy’s West Stores, Inc. (“Defendant”) now brings a renewed motion for
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judgment as a matter of law (“the JMOL Motion”). The Court finds the JMOL Motion suitable for
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decision without oral argument pursuant to Local Rule 7-1(b). For the reasons stated below, the
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Motion is DENIED.1
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II.
BACKGROUND
Procedural Background2
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A.
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At the outset of the case, there were five claims: 1) employment discrimination based on
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physical disability/medical condition, in violation of the Fair Employment and Housing Act
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The parties have consented to the jurisdiction of the undersigned magistrate judge pursuant to
28 U.S.C. § 636(c).
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A detailed discussion of the facts of the case can be found in the Court’s Second Amended
Summary Judgment Order, filed May 20, 2011. See docket No. 84.
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(“FEHA”), Cal. Gov. Code § 12940 et. seq.; 2) employment discrimination based on age in violation
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of FEHA, Cal. Gov. Code § 12940 et seq.; 3) employment discrimination on the basis of national
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origin in violation of FEHA, Cal. Gov. Code § 12940 et seq., 4) retaliation in violation of FEHA, §
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12945.2; and 5) wrongful termination in violation of public policy based on FEHA and CFRA.
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On summary judgment, the Court dismissed three of the five claims – Plaintiff’s two FEHA
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claims based upon Plaintiff’s termination on account of disability and national origin discrimination,
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and the violation of public policy claim. As a result, the jury was presented with the following
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claims: 1) age discrimination under FEHA and 2) failure to accommodate a disability under FEHA.
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Following the close of evidence and prior to the commencement of deliberations, the Defendant
filed a motion for judgment as a matter of law under Rule 50(a) of the Federal Rules of Civil
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For the Northern District of California
United States District Court
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Procedure. The Court granted the motion with respect to the failure to accommodate claim, but
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denied it as to the age discrimination claim. The jury found in favor of the Plaintiff on the age
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discrimination claim and awarded damages. The jury declined to award punitive damages.
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III.
ANALYSIS
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A.
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Pursuant to Rule 50 of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, a court may grant a motion for
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judgment as a matter of law (“JMOL”) against a party on a claim or issue where the party has been
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“fully heard on [that] issue during a jury trial” and the court finds that a “reasonable jury would not
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have a legally sufficient evidentiary basis” to find for that party. Fed.R. Civ. P. 50(a) & (b). In the
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Ninth Circuit, “[j]udgment as a matter of law is appropriate when the evidence, construed in the
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light most favorable to the nonmoving party, permits only one reasonable conclusion, which is
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contrary to the jury’s verdict.” Omega Environmental, Inc. v. Gilbarco, Inc., 127 F.3d 1157, 1161
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(9th Cir. 1997), cert. denied, 525 U.S. 812 (1998).
Legal Standard for Motion for Judgment as a Matter of Law
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If there is substantial evidence to support a jury verdict, the court should deny a motion for
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judgment as a matter of law. See Wallace v. City of San Diego, 479 F.3d 616, 624 (9th Cir. 2007)
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(“A jury’s verdict must be upheld if it is supported by substantial evidence.”). “Substantial evidence
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is such relevant evidence as reasonable minds might accept as adequate to support a conclusion even
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if it is possible to draw two inconsistent conclusions from the evidence.” Maynard v. City of San
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Jose, 37 F.3d 1396, 1404 (9th Cir. 1994); see also Wallace, 479 F.3d at 624 (“Judgment as a matter
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of law may be granted only where ... the evidence permits only one reasonable conclusion, and that
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conclusion is contrary to the jury’s verdict.”). Importantly, “the court must not weigh the evidence,
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but should simply ask whether the plaintiff has presented sufficient evidence to support the jury’s
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conclusion.” Id. Moreover, “[t]he evidence must be viewed in the light most favorable to the
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nonmoving party, and all reasonable inferences must be drawn in favor of that party.” Id. The court
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“must disregard all evidence favorable to the moving party that the jury is not required to believe.”
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Id.
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The Defendant’s Motion
The Defendant argues that Plaintiff failed to meet her burden at trial on the age
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For the Northern District of California
United States District Court
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B.
discrimination claim because she did not prove by a preponderance of the evidence that her age was
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a motivating reason for her termination. Defendant argues that Plaintiff’s evidence amounted to
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“nothing more than alleged stray remarks by two individuals who did not have the authority to make
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the ultimate termination decision, and which remarks were unrelated to her termination.” Motion at
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1. Defendant also argues that Plaintiff presented no evidence that she was treated differently than
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any other employee outside of her protected class who violated Macy’s coupon policy, and that she
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failed to show that Macy’s proffered reason for the termination was a pretext for discrimination.
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Defendant contends that it “proffered overwhelming evidence that the investigated, well
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documented, and admitted violations of Macy’s coupon policies were the sole basis for the
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termination of Plaintiff’s employment.” Def.’s JMOL Motion at 1.
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Plaintiff responds that there were “myriad items of evidence the jurors could have properly
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relied on to support their determination that age discrimination was a motivating reason for the
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termination.” Pl.’s Opposition at 4 Specifically, Plaintiff argues that the jury could have: 1)
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credited Plaintiff’s testimony that Morales and/or Goodin made discriminatory remarks in the weeks
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prior to the termination; 2) disbelieved Morales’ or Goodin’s denials at trial of having made those
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remarks; 3) found it unbelievable that Macy’s would have terminated an eighteen-year employee
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without any warning; 4) found it to be “bad faith to terminate Plaintiff for alleged ‘coupon misuse’
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when that term was never defined in the Employee Manual she received”; 5) credited Plaintiff’s
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testimony that her store manager had told her that she was allowed to give discounts in connection
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with opening new Macy’s accounts; 6) found it to be “bad faith” that Goodin recommended
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Plaintiff’s termination before she had spoken to Plaintiff to hear her version of events and before
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Dunnam’s investigation was complete; 7) found it incredible that Goodin could have proceeded with
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Plaintiff’s termination, after having received “Exhibit 51” from Plaintiff and her daughter, without
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doing any further investigation; 8) credited Plaintiff’s analysis of Exhibit 27, the “coupon
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termination chart,” which showed that older people were 250 percent more likely to be terminated
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for alleged coupon misuse than Macy’s general employee population; 9) viewed it as significant that
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Dunnam testified that the “Cinco” employee was not terminated by Macy’s after she had misused
coupons; or 10) been persuaded by the “extremely high number of significant instances of
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For the Northern District of California
United States District Court
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‘impeachment’ that tripped up all of Macy’s witnesses at trial.” Pl.’s Opposition at 4-5.
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C.
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Although the evidence that Ms. Hamed was fired because of her age was not overwhelming,
Application of the Law to the Facts of the Case
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the Court finds that it was adequate. In particular, Plaintiff testified that when her manager Ms.
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Morales spoke to her about a transfer from the Young Men’s department to the Men’s Basics
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department, she said to Plaintiff that “[t]he Young Men’s department job is for the young people,
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young guy” and that “the younger people do this job better, especially the fitting room.” Motion at 5
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(citing TP at 183:5-15; 279:4-8; 278:9-279:3; 279:9-24; 530:11-21). Similarly, Plaintiff testified
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that Goodin, the Human Resources Manager, asked Plaintiff her age and, at the same time, asked
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Plaintiff why she did not retire. The jury was also entitled to believe, based on the testimony of Mr.
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Dunnam, that automatic termination was not required for all violations of the coupon policy – and to
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disbelieve the contrary testimony by other Macy’s witnesses. Indeed, they were entitled to believe
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that Goodin was incorrect in her testimony that it was policy to terminate without warning all
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coupon violators. Under these circumstances, the jury could conclude that age was a motivating
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factor in Defendant’s decision to terminate Plaintiff, without warning, after repeated comments
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about her age.
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Defendant’s argument that Morales and Goodin were not involved in the decision to
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terminate Plaintiff fails. First, it is incorrect: Goodin, at least, was the Human Resources Manager
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and recommended termination. Def.’s JMOL Motion at 4. Moreover, it was Morales who referred
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Plaintiff for investigation. See Dominguez-Curry v. Nevada Transp. Dep’t., 424 F.3d 1027, 1034
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(9th Cir. 2005).
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Defendant further argues that these allegedly discriminatory comments constitute “stray
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remarks” as a matter of law. Motion at 9 (citing Nesbit v. Pepsico, Inc., 994 F.2d 703, 705 (9th Cir.
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1993) (finding that decision maker’s remark “‘[w]e don’t want unpromotable fifty-year olds
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around’” was not related directly or indirectly to employees’ terminations)). For the reasons stated
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in the Court’s Summary Judgment Order, the Court disagrees with this argument as a matter of law.
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See Docket No. 84 at 19.
The Court is similarly unpersuaded by Defendant’s argument that the verdict must be set
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For the Northern District of California
United States District Court
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aside because Plaintiff failed to demonstrate “pretext” at trial. On the question of pretext, the Court
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gave a “demonstration of pretext” instruction, advising that “[p]retext may be demonstrated by
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showing that the proffered reason has no basis in fact, did not motivate the discharge, or was
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insufficient to motivate the discharge.” Motion at 8 (citing TP at 1041:24-1042:2; JI 21). The jury
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submitted the following questions to the Court regarding Jury Instruction No. 21: “What is the
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relevance of determining that the proffered reason for termination was a pretext? If we find the
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proffered reason was a pretext, may we conclude automatically that age was a motivating reason for
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the termination?” Motion at 8 (citing Jury Note 6). In response, the Court advised:
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Plaintiff has the burden of proving that age was a motivating reason in the termination. You
should consider all of the evidence in deciding whether Plaintiff has met her burden of
proving that age was a motivating reason in the termination. In this regard, you may
consider, along with the other evidence in the case, whether the proffered reason for the
termination was a pretext.
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Id. (citing TP at 1071:15-24) (emphasis added). The jury was not required to find that the proffered
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reason was pretextual to find for the Plaintiff. In any event, the jury was entitled to conclude, based
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on the evidence cited above, that the proffered reason was pretextual.
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Defendant argues that there was no evidence of similarly situated younger workers being
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treated any differently from Plaintiff. As Plaintiff notes, under CACI 2500, an age discrimination
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verdict is proper if, based on all of the evidence, age is “a motivating reason” for the termination.
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As Macy’s points out in its Motion, the Court instructed the jury that “[a] ‘motivating reason’ is a
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reason that contributed to the decision to take certain action, even though other reasons may have
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contributed to the decision.” Def.’s JMOL Motion at 7. Defendant cites no law under FEHA that
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requires a plaintiff to make this showing by putting forth evidence regarding similarly situated
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employees. This was merely one of the ways that Plaintiff could attempt to demonstrate that her age
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was a motivating factor in her termination. As described above, there was sufficient evidence of
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discriminatory intent.
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The Court is not persuaded by Defendant’s argument that “Plaintiff’s admission [that she
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violated the coupon policy] is conclusive evidence in Macy’s favor that the Company’s stated reason
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for the termination was not a pretext for a discriminatory motive.” Def.’s JMOL Motion at 11. The
evidence in favor of Macy’s does not compel upsetting the jury’s verdict. The jury could have
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For the Northern District of California
United States District Court
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concluded from Ms. Hamed’s evidence – including her own testimony regarding ageist comments
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made to her by her supervisors shortly before her termination and the fact that she was fired without
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warning – that her age was a “motivating reason” for her termination. In this regard, the jury also
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could have credited the evidence of a Macy’s employee who was not terminated despite having
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violated the same coupon policy. Evidence (or admission) that Plaintiff violated the coupon policy
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is not the end of the inquiry.
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IV.
CONCLUSION
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For the foregoing reasons, the Defendant’s Motion is DENIED.
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IT IS SO ORDERED.
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Dated: October 17, 2011
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____________________________
JOSEPH C. SPERO
United States Magistrate Judge
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