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Meyer v. City Of Center Line9/15/2000
FOR PUBLICATION
9:10 a.m.
As amended November 9, 2000
In this action alleging sex discrimination and retaliation under the Civil Rights Act, MCL 37.2101 et seq.; MSA 3.548(101) et seq., plaintiff appeals as of right from a Macomb Circuit Court judgment of no cause of action in favor of defendants. We affirm in part and reverse in part.
Plaintiff was employed by the 37th District Court as a file clerk. She was later assigned to an accounting position at the 37th District Court's location in the city of Center Line. After being denied a position as a reserve police officer with the city of Center Line, plaintiff filed a complaint with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), alleging that she was improperly denied the position because she was a woman. The EEOC ultimately found that plaintiff failed to establish a civil rights violation.
Plaintiff alleged that, while the EEOC proceedings were pending, Jim Conrad, the administrator of the 37th District Court, told her that he had heard that she had filed a lawsuit against the city of Center Line and that the fact that she had filed the lawsuit might affect her position at the court. Plaintiff further alleged that, thereafter, she was subjected to a series of demotions, that she was subjected to harassment by co-workers, and that Conrad failed to take action in response to her complaints of harassment. As a result, plaintiff suffered from depression and anxiety, which eventually forced her to quit her job at the 37th District Court.
Thereafter, plaintiff filed the instant case. Plaintiff's claims of sex discrimination and retaliation against the city of Center Line, Reserve Lieutenant Arthur Rostow, and Director of Public Safety Gerald Solai, and plaintiff's retaliation claim against the 37th District Court and Conrad went to trial. The jury returned a verdict finding that the city of Center Line discriminated against plaintiff, but that the discrimination was not the cause of any injury for which damages could be awarded to the plaintiff. The jury further found that none of the defendants retaliated against plaintiff. A judgment of no cause of action was entered against plaintiff.
On appeal, plaintiff first argues that the trial court erred in denying her motion for a new trial brought on the ground that the trial court's answer to a question from the jury and the subsequent loss of the note containing the question and answer were prejudicial. We disagree. A trial court's decision regarding a motion for a new trial is reviewed for an abuse of discretion. Setterington v Pontiac General Hosp, 223 Mich App 594, 608; 568 NW2d 93 (1997).
According to testimony given at the hearing on plaintiff's motion for a new trial, the jury sent out a note during its deliberations asking whether, once it answered "no" to a certain question on the verdict form, it was required to continue to answer the remaining questions. The trial judge indicated that he wrote the response "no" on the jury's note, and the deputy delivered the written response to the jury. Thereafter, the trial judge informed counsel of the note and his response, and counsel did not object to his handling of the note. Plaintiff's counsel claims that the note was never discussed with counsel and that the loss of the note violated MCR 6.414(A), which provides that the court may not communicate with the jury with respect to the case without notifying the parties and permitting them to be present and that the court must ensure that all communications pertaining to the case between the court and the jury be made part of the record.
We note, however, that MCR 6.414(A) is a rule of criminal proc
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