Opinion
11 Civ. 2725 (LGS)
05-03-2022
US AIRWAYS, INC. Plaintiff, v. SABRE HOLDINGS CORP., et al., Defendants.
ORDER
LORNA G. SCHOFIELD, District Judge
WHEREAS, after the testimony by U.S. Airways' witness John Gustafson, Sabre filed a letter motion, dated May 1, 2022 (Dkt. No. 1191), seeking to introduce evidence and argument of the timing of U.S. Airways' decision to sue, including the so-called “sign-and-sue” evidence, and arguing that U.S. Airways had opened the door to such testimony as referenced in the Court's prior order conditionally precluding such evidence. Having reviewed Sabre's the motion, U.S. Airways' response (Dkt. No. 1192), relevant portions of the trial transcript, and considering the opening statements and trial evidence as a whole to date, it is hereby ORDERED that
1. The motion is DENIED. As before (Dkt. Nos 483, 1132), the evidence is excluded under Federal Rule of Evidence 403 because its probative value is slight where the issue is Sabre's conduct and whether Sabre insisted on anti-competitive contractual provisions, and not U.S. Airways' sincerity when it offered alternatives. That probative value is outweighed by a danger of unfair prejudice by portraying U.S. Airways as a bad actor that deceived Sabre during the 2011 negotiations, confusing the issues by focusing on U.S. Airways' motives. Having heard the evidence, the Rule 403 balance is unchanged as U.S. Airways has not made its subjective state of mind a focus of its case, but rather has emphasized what Sabre offered and refused to offer U.S. Airways during the negotiations leading up to the 2011 contract.
2. U.S. Airways shall continue in that vein during the remainder of the questioning and in closing argument.
SO ORDERED.