Sornia

MEMORANDUM **

Plaintiff Mirtha Sornia, a bus -driver for the El Monte School District, sued the district and her supervisor, Benny Carter, for sexual harassment. The jury awarded Sornia $400,000 in compensatory damages and $32,500 in punitive damages. The school district and Carter appeal the district court’s denial of their motion for. a new trial after a jury verdict. We havS jurisdiction pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1291 , and we affirm.

A district court’s grant or denial of a new trial pursuant to Fed.R.Civ.P.. 5.9(a) is reviewed for abuse of discretion. Jorgensen v. Cassiday, 320 F.3d 906, 918 (9th Cir.2003). We find no abuse of discretion here.

Defendants argue that the district' court should have granted its motion for a new trial because Sornia’s testimony that Carter handed her his1 pubic hairs was without foundation and prejudiced Carter. To the contrary, Sornia’s testimony that the hairs were pubic hairs was properly admitted because it was rationally based on her perception of events, helpful to the trier of fact, and not based on scientific knowledge. Fed.R.Evid. 701. While otherwise admissible evidence may be excluded if the danger of unfair prejudice substantially…