Ramirez v. T & H Lemont, Inc.

In Title VII action alleging that defendant discriminated against plaintiff based on his national origin and then terminated him, Dist. Ct. did not err in dismissing case, after finding by preponderance of evidence that plaintiff had engaged in witness tampering by offering bribe to co-worker to provide false, but favorable testimony under circumstances where no other co-worker would support plaintiff’s discrimination claims. Ct. rejected plaintiff’s contention that Dist. Ct. was required to find existence of witness tampering under clear and convincing evidence standard and held, by overruling Maynard, 332 F.3d 462, that determination as to whether sanctionable misconduct has occurred may be established under preponderance of evidence standard. Moreover, record supported Dist. Ct.’s finding of plaintiff’s misconduct, where record showed that plaintiff made calculated effort to bolster his otherwise floundering discrimination claim by offering payment to co-worker to provide testimony in support of his allegations of discrimination. Also, dismissal of case was appropriate sanction where witness tampering is among most serious abuses of judicial process.