Harvey

Certified for Partial Publication. [*]

In this employment discrimination case, the same person who terminated plaintiff had previously hired and promoted her. Defendant, the employer, relies on several California and federal cases to argue that this "same actor" evidence compels a reversal of the trial court's denial of defendant's motion for judgment notwithstanding the verdict (JNOV) on the issue of liability. We conclude such evidence is entitled to no special weight and does not modify the standard of review, which requires us to affirm if substantial evidence supports the jury's verdict.

Between 1995 and 2003, Nita White-Ivy supervised plaintiff Marietta Harvey in the human resources departments of two separate companies. White-Ivy hired and promoted Harvey at Pyramid Technology and at defendant Sybase, Inc. (Sybase). Following her termination from Sybase by White-Ivy in 2003, Harvey filed an action under the California Fair Employment and Housing Act (FEHA) (Gov.Code, § 12900 et seq.) claiming that Sybase, acting through White-Ivy, violated the FEHA by terminating Harvey based on either her race or her gender. The jury agreed, returned a verdict in Harvey's…