Given this central dispute, the failure to give the proper instruction regarding substantial factor cannot be considered harmless, and a new trial must be granted.Dr. “Of central importance to the case was the weight given to discriminatory intent and whether that intent need only be of a mere motivating factor or a substantial factor. “The instruction error cannot be considered harmless,” Brazile wrote in Tuesday’s ruling. In the Cochran case, the judge failed to issue this “substantial” guidance despite a request from the defendants.
Judges need to instruct the jury that discrimination is not just a “motivating factor/reason” for termination but a “substantial motivating factor/reason.” … The evidence is sufficient to support the verdict.”īut the producers made an escape from the verdict thanks to what Judge Kevin Brazile said to the jury before they deliberated.Īfter Cochran won her trial, the California Supreme Court made a decision about jury instructions in a mixed-motive discrimination case. The judge rejected all this, saying, “The evidence established that Defendants discriminated against Plaintiff, terminating her on the grounds of her prior pregnancy and complications. They also said there was no substantial evidence that her pregnancy was the reason they didn’t rehire her.
Producers wanted the judge to toss the $7.7 million win and enter a verdict in their favor because Cochran allegedly had failed to prove they knew of her pregnancy-related depression, and they couldn’t have discriminated against her based on the condition if they weren’t aware of it. Eventually, she couldn’t hide it, and she says that the producers then treated her differently and gave her less work, causing stress that led to health issues for her and her child. After she got pregnant in 2007, she said she didn’t tell her co-workers at first because she was concerned about the ramifications. In the lawsuit, Cochran says she was fired from the game show after eight years as a model to hosts Bob Barker and Drew Carey. A jury awarded her more than $7.7 million after she successfully convinced them that she was discriminated against after becoming pregnant.īut thanks to bad jury instructions, the case is now going back to trial. In November, Cochran scored a big win in her battle against producers FremantleMedia North America and The Price Is Right Productions. A Los Angeles Superior Court judge Tuesday granted a motion for a new trial over discrimination claims made by The Price Is Right model Brandi Cochran.
0 kommentar(er)
