Opinion
No. 09-10574.
January 21, 2010.
Craig L. Berman, Berman Law Firm, P.A., Saint Petersburg, FL, Erika Deutsch Rotbart, Deutsch Rotbart Associates, P.A., Boca Raton, FL, for Plaintiffs-Appellants Cross-Appellees.
Justin B. Uhlemann, Mcdermott, Will Emery, LLP, Miami, FL, Carolyn T. Schiff, Joel E. Cohen, Mcdermott Will Emery LLP, New York, NY, for Defendant-Appellee Cross-Appellants.
Appeals from the United States District Court for the Southern District of Florida. D.C. Docket No. 07-21794-CV-KMM.
The district judge, in a well-reasoned order, granted Saks Fifth Avenue, Inc.'s renewed motion for judgment as a matter of law pursuant to Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 50(b). He found that the judgment was warranted because "no reasonable juror could conclude that in taking adverse employment action against Plaintiffs, Phelan acted as a mere [conduit] for Terbecki or Salerno's age animus or retaliatory motives." Perez v. Saks Fifth Avenue, Inc., 592 F.Supp.2d 1388, 1399-1400 (S.D.Fla. 2009). We have carefully reviewed the record and the court's order, and we conclude that the court properly granted judgment as a matter of law. We therefore affirm the judgment of the district court. As a result, Saks's conditional cross-appeal from the denial of its alternative motion for new trial pursuant to Federal Rules of Civil Procedure 50(b) and 59(a) is moot.
AFFIRMED.