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Trujillo v. Northern Rio Arriba Electric Cooperative12/6/2001
Northern Rio Arriba Electric Cooperative, Inc. (NORA) appeals from a jury verdict granting damages to Frank and Lorraine Trujillo. Frank Trujillo had pursued a discrimination claim against NORA under the New Mexico Human Rights Act, NMSA 1978, §§ 28-1-1 to -15 (1969, as amended through 1993, prior to 1995, 2000, & 2001 amendments), alleging that NORA discriminated against him because of a medical condition when they fired him. See NMSA 1978, § 28-1-7(A) (1987, prior to 1995 & 2001 amendments). Plaintiffs subsequently filed a complaint in the district court for a trial de novo under NMSA 1978, § 28-1-13(A) (1987), and alleged additional claims, including Mrs. Trujillo's claim for loss of consortium. After a five-day trial, the jury returned a verdict favorable to Mr. and Mrs. Trujillo on all claims, finding that the firing of Mr. Trujillo violated the Human Rights Act and public policy, breached an implied contract of employment, intentionally inflicted severe emotional distress on Mr. Trujillo, and caused a loss of consortium for his wife. The trial court subsequently awarded attorney's fees and costs to the Trujillo attorneys. NORA filed an appeal directly to this Court under Section 28-1-13(C) of the Human Rights Act, arguing that the trial court erred in submitting the Trujillos' claims to the jury. Plaintiffs filed a cross-appeal seeking an increase in the amount of attorney's fees and various costs. We reverse the judgment in favor of Plaintiffs, thereby rendering the cross-appeal moot.
I. FACTUAL AND PROCEDURAL BACKGROUND
NORA is a cooperative nonprofit corporation with approximately fifteen employees. In 1995, Mr. Trujillo was employed by NORA in the billing department as a computer operator and billing clerk and had been with the cooperative for thirteen years. In the fall of 1994, after the cooperative had been cautioned by the certified public accounting firm that performed its annual audit about various irregularities, NORA began an internal audit to identify where the record-keeping and collection problems were occurring. On February 8, 1995, the three employees in the billing department, including Mr. Trujillo, attended a seminar designed to address billing errors and revenue losses that had been identified by the audit. At the seminar, which was intended to last several days, the employees were asked to report any billing problems they might know about that had not yet been uncovered by the audit. The following morning, Mr. Trujillo felt fatigued and told his co-workers that he had been dizzy and disoriented while driving to work. He left work early and did not come in the following day, which was Friday, but rather went to see a doctor. The following Monday, when Mr. Trujillo told the general manager of the symptoms he was experiencing, NORA placed him on sick leave to recuperate.
Relying on the symptoms Mr. Trujillo reported to her, the doctor's working hypothesis was that they might represent a "transient ischemic attack like syndrome." Concerned that the episode might be a precursor to a stroke, she referred Mr. Trujillo to several specialists for diagnostic testing. Mr. Trujillo underwent a cerebrovascular evaluation on February 24, 1995, with "unremarkable" results. The results of a treadmill test and an EKG fell within normal limits. On March 3, 1995, he had an both an EEG and MRI of the brain; those tests did not reveal any problems.
Based on these test results, Mr. Trujillo was cleared by his doctor to return to work on a part-time basis on March 7, 1995. Upon receiving the work release, NORA's general manager tried to contact the doctor by telephone and also sent a letter by facsimile asking for more information about t
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