Carrie Tritchler v. The County of Lake, the Superior Court in and for the County of Lake, and Lee B. Poole

Carrie Tritchler was employed as a court reporter by the Lake County Superi- or Court (“Superior Court”) from 1989 until May 22, 1996, when her employment was terminated for reasons that are not directly related to this litigation. She had been supervised by defendant Lee Poole from the commencement of her employment until he was terminated in 1994 as a consequence of Tritchler’s sexual harassment complaint. After two jury trials resulting in two verdicts against her, the first of which this court reversed due to inconsistent jury findings, Tritchler now appeals the most recent verdict on grounds of lack of jurisdiction, errors of law and errors at trial.

Under 28 U.S.C. § 1331 , the district court had original jurisdiction of the Title VII claims in Tritchler’s original complaint and supplementary jurisdiction over her California Fair Employment and Housing Act (FEHA) claims under 28 U.S.C. § 1367 . Tritchler dropped her Title VII claims on the eve pf the first trial in late 1997, leaving only state claims. On several occasions after that, all parties assented to the district court’s retaining supplemental jurisdiction, but in July 2001, Tritchler changed her position…