McArthur v. The Rock Wood Fired Pizza & Spirits et al

Filing 113

ORDER denying 112 Motion for Reconsideration by Chief Judge Ricardo S. Martinez.(SSM)

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UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
WESTERN DISTRICT OF WASHINGTON
AT SEATTLE

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JENNIFER McARTHUR,

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Plaintiff,

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v.
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THE ROCK WOODFIRED PIZZA &
SPIRITS, et al.,

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Defendants.
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) CASE NO. C14-0770RSM
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) ORDER DENYING PLAINTIFF’S
) MOTION FOR RECONSIDERATION
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THIS MATTER comes before the Court on Plaintiff’s Motion for Reconsideration. Dkt.
#112. Plaintiff asks the Court to reconsider its prior ruling on her Motions In Limine 8-16, on

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the basis that the Court committed manifest error. Id. In the subject motions in limine, Plaintiff
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asked the Court to preclude Defendants from presenting numerous pieces of evidence and

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argument based on the after-acquired evidence doctrine. Dkt. #95 at 12-18. The Court denied

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the motions, noting that Defendants are not invoking the after-acquired evidence doctrine to limit

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Plaintiff’s damages in this case. Dkt. #111. Plaintiff now argues that the Court ignored
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controlling law, because it is she that relies on the first part of the after-acquired evidence doctrine
to preclude certain evidence. Dkt. #112.

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“Motions for reconsideration are disfavored.” LCR 7(h). “The court will ordinarily deny

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such motions in the absence of a showing of manifest error in the prior ruling or a showing of

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new facts or legal authority which could not have been brought to its attention earlier with
ORDER
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reasonable diligence.” LCR 7(h)(1). In this case, the Court is not persuaded that it committed

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manifest error in its ruling. Plaintiff appears to misconstrue the after-acquired evidence doctrine

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and its purpose in litigation. The after-acquired evidence doctrine is an affirmative defense to an

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employment discrimination claim. It permits an employer to avoid some liability by showing

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that it would have terminated an employee for wrongdoing discovered after a wrongful
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termination, had the employer known of the wrongdoing prior to the wrongful termination.

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McKennon v. Nashville Banner Publishing Co., 513 U.S. 352, 360-62, 115 S. Ct. 879, 130 L. Ed.

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2d 852 (1995); Schnidrig v. Columbia Mach., Inc., 80 F3d 1406, 1412 (9th Cir1996), cert denied,

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519 U.S. 927, 117 S. Ct. 295, 136 L. Ed. 2d 214 (1996); O'Day v. McDonnell Douglas Helicopter

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Company, 79 F3d 756, 759 (9th Cir1996). To establish this defense, defendant must (1) present
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after-acquired evidence of an employee’s misconduct; and (2) prove by a preponderance of the

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evidence that it would have fired the employee for that misconduct. O’Day, 79 F3d at 759. If

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defendant prevails on this defense, plaintiff may be precluded from seeking certain remedies.

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McKennon, 513 U.S. at 361-62.
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Again, Defendants are not relying on this affirmative defense.

Plaintiff seems to

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acknowledge that fact, but complains that for three years Defendants asserted that the basis of

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Plaintiff’s termination was a “thorough audit” of transactions that allegedly revealed misconduct,

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but has since presented testimony that they relied on other documents as the basis of the

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termination. Dkt. #112 at 2-3. Such testimony, as described by Plaintiff, does not implicate the
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after-acquired evidence doctrine. Defendants may now be asserting that they relied on other

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documents to support the termination, but that is not the same as attempting to introduce other

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bases for termination other than what she was accused of. Plaintiff may use what she believes is

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ORDER
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contradictory testimony for impeachment purposes if she desires, but it does not provide a basis
to exclude the evidence under the after-acquired evidence doctrine.
Accordingly, the Court hereby ORDERS that Plaintiff’s Motion for Reconsideration
(Dkt. #112) is DENIED.

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DATED this 17th day of April, 2017.
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A

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RICARDO S. MARTINEZ
UNITED STATES DISTRICT JUDGE

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ORDER
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