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Billingsley v. BFM Liquor Management6/14/2002
d to find that Billingsley "failed to sustain his burden of proof because of Defendants' articulation of legitimate nondiscriminatory reasons for [Billingsley's] termination from employment so that no reasonable jury could have returned a verdict for [Billingsley]." We interpret this assignment to mean that defendants assign as error the district court's denial of their motion for a directed verdict. We conclude that the district court did not err in overruling defendants' motion for a directed verdict, and accordingly, we find this assignment of error to be without merit.
[11-13] A trial court should direct a verdict as a matter of law only when the facts are conceded, undisputed, or such that reasonable minds can draw but one conclusion therefrom. McLain v. Ortmeier, 259 Neb. 750, 612 N.W.2d 217 (2000); Nelson v. Lusterstone Surfacing Co., 258 Neb. 678, 605 N.W.2d 136 (2000). A directed verdict is proper at the close of all the evidence only when reasonable minds cannot differ and can draw but one conclusion from the evidence, that is to say, when an issue should be decided as a matter of law. McLain, supra; Lackman v. Rousselle, 257 Neb. 87, 596 N.W.2d 15 (1999). The party against whom the verdict is directed is entitled to have every controverted fact resolved in his or her favor and to have the benefit of every inference which can reasonably be drawn from the evidence. If there is any evidence which will sustain a finding for the party against whom the motion is made, the case may not be decided as a matter of law. McLain, supra; Alexander v. Warehouse, 253 Neb. 153, 568 N.W.2d 892 (1997). In reviewing the action of a trial court, an appellate court must treat a motion for directed verdict as an admission of the truth of all competent evidence submitted on behalf of the party against whom the motion is directed; such being the case, the party against whom the motion is directed is entitled to have every controverted fact resolved in its favor and to have the benefit of every inference which can reasonably be deduced from the evidence. McLain, supra; Lackman, supra.
Defendants argue that they adduced evidence of legitimate nondiscriminatory reasons as to why Billingsley's employment was terminated and that, therefore, no reasonable jury could have returned a verdict for Billingsley. In cases arising under the age discrimination act, we have held that
"although the ultimate burden of persuasion by a preponderance of the evidence at all times remains with the plaintiff, the method of proof is for the plaintiff to prove a prima facie case; if the plaintiff succeeds in so doing, the defendant has the burden of articulating some legitimate, nondiscriminatory reason for its action. Should the defendant succeed in so doing, the plaintiff must establish by a preponderance of the evidence that the legitimate reasons offered by the defendant were not its true reasons, but were a pretext for discrimination." . . . See McDonnell Douglas Corp. v. Green, 411 U.S. 792, 93 S. Ct. 1817, 36 L. Ed. 2d 668 (1973). (As recently clarified in St. Mary's Honor Center v. Hicks, U.S. , S. Ct. , 125 L. Ed. 2d 407 (1993), McDonnell Douglas Corp. allocates the burden of production and the order for the presentation of the evidence; the ultimate burden of persuasion, however, rests on the plaintiff.) Humphrey v. Nebraska Public Power Dist., 243 Neb. 872, 878, 503 N.W.2d 211, 217 (1993) (quoting Allen v. AT&T;Technologies, 228 Neb. 503, 423 N.W.2d 424 (1988)).
We have stated that to establish a prima facie case of age discrimination, the plaintiff must establish that (1) he or she was in the protected group, (2) he or she was subjected to an adverse employment action, (3) he or she was qu
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