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El Paso Healthcare System3/17/2005
This is an appeal from a jury verdict in a case arising under the Texas Commission on Human Rights Act ("TCHRA") claiming damages based upon allegations of age discrimination. The jury awarded $85,952 in back pay, $21,536 for loss of past employment benefits, $75,000 in compensatory damages, prejudgment interest on the actual damages, $1.3 million in exemplary damages, attorneys fees of $54,425, conditional awards of appellate attorneys fees, and post-judgment interest on all the amounts awarded. The Appellant raises ten issues on appeal. Issues One through Five challenge the legal and factual sufficiency of the evidence to support the jury's answers to the questions submitted. The remaining issues challenge the legal and factual sufficiency of the evidence to support the jury's finding that Appellant acted with malice or reckless indifference, the legal and factual sufficiency of the evidence to support the jury's finding regarding lost employment benefits, the trial court's submission of a circumstantial evidence instruction, whether the cap on damages under the Texas Commission on Human Rights Act applies, and whether, if the cap applies, it also limits the award of front pay found by the jury. For the reasons stated, we reverse and remand.
I. ISSUES SUBMITTED ON APPEAL
Appellant has submitted ten issues on appeal. Issues One through Five complain that the evidence supporting the jury's answers regarding a finding of age discrimination under the TCHRA, is legally and factually insufficient to support the findings. Because our ruling on Issues One through Five is dispositive of this appeal, we do not reach the remaining issues.
II. SUMMARY OF THE EVIDENCE
Appellee, Vincenza Carmona had been employed as a nurse in El Paso since 1979 and employed by Appellant since 1988. Appellee originally was employed as an oncology nurse by Appellant, but in 1992, became a Case Manager which involved, among other responsibilities, overseeing the placement of patients within the hospital. In May of 1997, Appellee applied for a new position that had recently been created in the Admitting Department, Admitting Nurse. The same position had been eliminated approximately two years earlier during a previous reduction in force but was recreated in 1997. At that time, Juan Murillo, the Assistant Director over the Admitting Department, interviewed Appellee for the position and recommended that she be allowed to transfer into the new position. Appellee was 60 years old at the time of the transfer to the Admitting Department. Appellee acknowledged having a good working relationship with Murillo while she was employed as the Admitting Nurse. She did not have any complaints about unfair treatment on the part of Murillo or Vicky Moreno, her immediate supervisor.
Because of cyclical patient census counts which impact the patient population in the hospital, the hospital occasionally implements steps to control expenses during periods of declining populations. Because hospitals have high fixed costs, wages and salaries are the largest controllable expense. Consequently, the hospital may initiate a reduction in force or RIF, as a cost-cutting measure and has done so in the past.
Appellant's corporate parent compiles and disseminates statistical data that enables the hospital to compare its staffing levels with those of other hospitals. When considering the implementation of a RIF as a cost-saving measure, upper management, in this case, Terry Smith, the Chief Financial Officer, instructed directors such as Murillo to reduce the number of full-time employees within their respective department. The directors were allowed to review the staffing needs of the various
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