Hans HUB, Plaintiff-Appellant, v. SUN VALLEY CO., Et Al., Defendants-Appellees

Hans Hub appeals from the judgment against his claims that his former employer, Sun Valley Co., discriminated against him on account of his national origin. The record as it stands contains ample evidence to support the district court’s holding. Hub contends, however, that the court violated Fed.R.Civ.P. 32(a) by refusing to admit a deposition filed in a prior state action between Hub and Sun Valley’s predecessor-in-interest. The deposition allegedly contains testimony that Sun Valley decided not to rehire Hub because he filed a complaint with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC). The deposition constitutes Hub’s best evidence of retaliation in violation of 42 U.S.C. § 2000e-3(a), and we cannot say that its exclusion, if improper, was harmless error.

We thus must determine whether the district court applied Rule 32(a) correctly. The Rule states in relevant part:

Because Hub has not shown that the two lawsuits involved sufficiently similar issues, we affirm.

I

The decision whether to admit a deposition from a prior lawsuit is vested in the district court’s sound discretion. First National Bank in Greenwich v. National Airlines, 22 F.R.D. 46, 49 (S.D.N.Y.1958). See…