Tuesday, 26 February 2008

U.S. Supreme Court Punts on "Me Too" Evidence in Discrimination Cases

Mendelsohn sued Sprint for age discrimination. At trial, she attempted to admit evidence that other Sprint employees were subjected to age discrimination, even though by different supervisors at different times, and otherwise unrelated to the discrimination she experienced. This is known as "me too" evidence. The district court held the evidence was irrelevant and inadmissible. The Tenth Circuit Court of Appeals reversed, believing the district court adopted a "per se" rule excluding "me too" evidence based on Tenth Circuit precedent.
The U.S. Supreme Court, in a unanimous ruling, reversed the Tenth Circuit. However, the Court did not analyze the extent to which "me too" evidence is admissible. Rather, this case was decided as a matter of civil procedure / evidence law. On the merits, the court said that "me too" evidence is neither per se admissible or inadmissible, and the decision to admit it is within the trial court's discretion based on factors normally applicable to the relevance analysis. No guidance on this issue at all.
The case is Sprint / United Mgmt. Co. v. Mendelsohn. The opinion is here.

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