Alaska Employment Law

In Taheri v. Evergreen Aviation Ground Logistics Enterprises, Inc., the plaintiff employee complains of retaliatory termination.  In response to Rule 26, interrogatories, and a court order, plaintiff apparently supplied less-than-full responses.  On the employer’s in limine motion, U. S. District Judge Ralph Beistline has limited the employee’s evidence at trial:

Defendant complains that Plaintiff has provided no evidence of how long he worked at various employers, why he left those employers, his rate of pay, or his hours of work. “Should Plaintiff be allowed to present a claim for such damages . . . he should not only be limited to what evidence he has produced (as he concedes), but also should bear the burden of proof on mitigation from that production. Fairness dictates that [Defendant] should not bear the mitigation burden where Plaintiff has willfully withheld the information (requested discovery) necessary to make such a showing.” Docket 92.

The Motion in Limine at Docket 74 is GRANTED. Plaintiff shall be limited to the evidence and calculations already produced regarding damages and mitigation efforts.

Taheri v. Evergreen Aviation Ground Logistics Enterprises, Inc.,  Case No. 3:04-cv-0106-RRB (D.Alaska Order re Motions in Limine of Nov. 14, 2008).

Plaintiff’s counsel is Ted Stepovich of Anchorage.  Defendant’s local counsel is Tom Daniel of Perkins Coie, also of Anchorage.