USCA1 Opinion
September 22, 1995 [NOT FOR PUBLICATION]
UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS
FOR THE FIRST CIRCUIT
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No. 95-1407
JOHN VIRAPEN, ET AL.,
Plaintiffs, Appellants,
v.
ELI LILLY, S.A., ETC., ET AL.,
Defendants, Appellees.
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APPEAL FROM THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
FOR THE DISTRICT OF PUERTO RICO
[Hon. Juan M. Perez-Gimenez, U.S. District Judge]
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Before
Selya, Circuit Judge,
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Coffin, Senior Circuit Judge,
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and Boudin, Circuit Judge.
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Jorge Miguel Suro Ballester on brief for appellants.
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Carl Schuster and Schuster Aguilo Rivera & Santiago on brief
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for appellees.
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Per Curiam. This appeal stems from a suit alleging
Per Curiam
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employment discrimination in violation of federal statutes and
local law. The principal plaintiff, John Virapen, who was born
in British Guyana and is of Indian descent, alleges that his
employer, Eli Lilly S.A., a pharmaceutical firm, discharged him
from an executive position because of his skin color, race, and
national origin. The other plaintiffs are Virapen's wife and
conjugal partnership; their claims are wholly derivative of his
claim, and need not be addressed separately.
The district court conducted a four-day bench trial
concerning Virapen's allegations. The court thereafter wrote a
meticulously reasoned opinion in which it concluded that Virapen
had failed to prove his case. See Virapen v. Eli Lilly, S.A.,
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No. 90-1453, slip op. (D.P.R. March 23, 1995). Having read the
record and carefully considered the parties' briefs, we find no
basis to disturb the district court's decision. To the precise
contrary, we regard this as a suitable case in which to put into
practice our stated belief that, when "a trial court has produced
a first-rate work product, a reviewing tribunal should hesitate
to wax longiloquent simply to hear its own words resonate." In
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re San Juan Dupont Plaza Hotel Fire Litig., 989 F.2d 36, 38 (1st
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Cir. 1993). Consequently, we affirm the judgment for
substantially the reasons elucidated in the opinion below. We
add only a few brief comments.
First: Virapen essentially asks that we reweigh the
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facts de novo. Our standard of review, however, is much more
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circumscribed. Following a bench trial, an appellate tribunal is
not warranted in rejecting the trial court's "findings of fact or
conclusions drawn therefrom unless, on the whole of the record,
[the court of appeals] form[s] a strong, unyielding belief that a
mistake has been made." Cumpiano v. Banco Santander P.R., 902
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F.2d 148, 152 (1st Cir. 1990). Findings concerning an employer's
intent are subject to review under this standard, and can be set
aside only for clear error. See id. (citing authorities). The
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record, read objectively, does not yield a conviction that a
mistake has been made, and no error clear or otherwise is
discernible.
Second: Virapen's complaint that he was wrongfully
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denied the opportunity to adduce rebuttal evidence rings hollow.
The trial court has the right to exercise reasonable control over
the mode and manner of presenting evidence, see Fed. R. Evid.
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611, and the court did not abuse its broad discretion here. See,
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e.g., Bhaya v. Westinghouse Elec. Corp., 922 F.2d 184, 190 (3d
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Cir. 1990), cert. denied, 501 U.S. 1217 (1991) (explaining that
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"a trial judge's decision regarding the scope of rebuttal may not
be reversed unless there has been a clear abuse of discretion");
Hickok v. G.D. Searle & Co., 496 F.2d 444, 447 (10th Cir. 1974)
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(explaining that the determination of what constitutes proper
rebuttal evidence lies within the district court's sound
discretion).
What is more, Virapen has not identified any evidence,
unavailable to him during the presentation of his case in chief,
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that the court precluded him from presenting after the defense
rested. Nor has he pointed to any specific excluded evidence,
the need for which could not and should not have been
anticipated from the outset. That ends the matter. See, e.g.,
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Cates v. Sears Roebuck & Co., 928 F.2d 679, 685 (5th Cir. 1991)
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(warning that rebuttal evidence "is not to be used as a
continuation of the case-in-chief"); Pignons S.A. de Mecanique v.
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Polaroid Corp., 701 F.2d 1, 2 (1st Cir. 1983) ("Once a plaintiff
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has had a chance to prove a fact, he cannot reopen the matter
simply by stating that he wishes to introduce more or better
evidence.").
Third: Virapen's insistence that the district court
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erred in respect to whether he established a prima facie case of
employment discrimination misses the mark. Where, as here, a
discrimination case that rests on circumstantial evidence is
tried to a conclusion, "the burden-shifting framework has
fulfilled its function, and backtracking serves no useful
purpose." Sanchez v. Puerto Rico Oil Co., 37 F.3d 712, 720 (1st
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Cir. 1994). Thus, as we have said, "[t]o focus on the existence
of a prima facie case after a discrimination case has been fully
tried on the merits is to 'unnecessarily evade[] the ultimate
question of discrimination vel non.'" Id. (quoting United States
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Postal Serv. Bd. of Govs. v. Aikens, 460 U.S. 711, 713-14
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(1983)); see also Mesnick v. General Elec. Co., 950 F.2d 816,
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824-25 (1st Cir. 1991), cert. denied, 504 U.S. 985 (1992). So it
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is here.
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Fourth: Virapen's jeremiad that the district court
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erred in respect to his local-law claims is without merit. The
district court analyzed both the Law 100 claim, P.R. Laws Ann.
tit. 29, 146 (1985), and the Law 80 claim, P.R. Laws Ann. tit.
29, 185(a) (1985), under the appropriate tests. See Virapen,
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supra, slip op. at 4. It supportably found that Virapen did not
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establish a case of employment discrimination under the Law 100
test. See id. at 19. The court similarly found that Virapen did
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not establish unjustified dismissal within the meaning of Law 80
because "[t]he repetitive nature of plaintiff's misconduct . . .
constituted 'good cause' as a 'pattern of improper . . . conduct'
under Law 80." Id. (quoting statute). Those findings are not
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clearly erroneous.
We need go no further. The judgment of the district
court is summarily affirmed. See 1st Cir. R. 27.1.
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Affirmed.
Affirmed
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