Introduction to
the Anatomy of a
Lawsuit
Discovery
Once the lawsuit begins, the parties engage in a
period of discovery -- in other words, learning about the strengths and weaknesses
of each other's case. Some of this discovery is mandated by the federal court in the
court's Federal Rules of Civil Procedure -- a set of rules that applies to federal
civil lawsuits (as opposed to federal criminal lawsuits). The Rules of Civil Procedure
require each party to disclose the identity of certain witnesses and the existence of
certain documents that are relevant to the lawsuit.
In addition to these required disclosures, the
parties are provided several tools they can use to discover information from each other
(or from third parties).
The following is a list of the most common tools:
-
Interrogatories - These are written
questions which must be responded to under oath.
-
Requests for Admissions - These are
written statements which the other side must either admit or deny. They are used to pin
down the other party on a particular issue.
-
Depositions
- These are formal interviews under oath of the other party or of a
witness. At all depositions, both parties are present along with
their attorneys and a court reporter. The court reporter makes a
transcript of everything that is said. Also, depositions are
sometimes videotaped. A witness can be asked any question as long as
the question is "reasonably calculated to lead to the discovery of
relevant evidence." In other words, you can be asked just about
anything. In employment discrimination cases, many depositions are
usually taken, and a single deposition can last more than a day.
-
Requests for Production of Documents -
These are written requests for an opportunity to view and copy certain documents that the
other side has in its possession or control. For example, if an employee is suing because
he did not receive a promotion, he might submit a request to the employer asking to see
the personnel files of the other employees who were considered for the promotion.
Pre-trial
motions
Usually, the federal court will set a cut-off
date by which all discovery must be completed. In employment discrimination cases, the
employer will often file a motion for summary judgment during (or at the conclusion
of) the discovery process. A motion for summary judgment is a written document filed with
the court asking that the case be dismissed before trial.
To understand how a judge rules on a motion for
summary judgment, you must first understand the role of a judge and jury at trial. The
judge has the responsibility to make sure that the correct law is applied to the case and
the jury has the responsibility for determining what the facts are in the case. The jury
is often referred to as the finder of fact. When a jury makes its decision at the
end of a trial, it is the judge who tells the jury what the law is, and it is the jury who
then decides what the facts are. Once the jury has decided the facts, it applies those
facts to the law given to it by the judge and determines which party should prevail.
What does this have to do with a motion for
summary judgment? When deciding a motion for summary judgment, the district court judge is
not allowed to decide the facts -- because that is the job of the jury. Therefore, in
deciding the motion, the judge is required to assume that the plaintiff's version of the
facts is correct; and then the judge proceeds with deciding whether the case should be
dismissed as a matter of law anyway.
Let's look at an example to make this clear.
Jack Doe (John's father) sues his employer for age discrimination when he is terminated at age 65.
Jack claims he was replaced by another worker age 64. The employer's
position position is that Jack's job
was abolished as part of a corporate downsizing, and that the 64 year-old worker is not
performing Jack's old job.
In ruling on the motion for summary judgment, the
judge must assume that Bill's version of the facts is correct -- at least
to the extent that Jack has admissible evidence or can show he will have
admissible evidence at trial. Therefore, the court
assumes that Jack, age 65, was replaced by another worker, age 64. However, even though
Jack's version of the facts is presumed to be correct, the employer still gets the case
dismissed on summary judgment. Why? Because the Supreme Court has decided that if a
plaintiff is trying to prove age discrimination by showing he was replaced by a younger
worker, the worker must be "substantially younger," and as a matter of law,
one year younger is not substantially younger. Or stated another way, under the law, a
difference of one year is not enough to make out a case of age discrimination.
But what happens next if the motion for summary
judgment is denied? If the motion for summary judgment is denied, or if no motion is
filed, then the case proceeds to trial.
