Free Lodged Proposed Document - District Court of Arizona - Arizona

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Stephen G. Montoya (#011791) MONTOYA JIMENEZ, P.A.
The Great American Tower 3200 North Central Avenue, Ste. 2550 Phoenix, Arizona 85012 (602) 256-6718 (fax) 256-6667

[email protected] Attorney for Plaintiff

Stephanie Osteen AKIN GUMP STRAUSS HAUER & FELD LLP
1700 Pacific Avenue, Suite 4100 Dallas, Texas 75201 Telephone: (214) 969-2800 Fax: (214) 969-4343

[email protected]

Tricia Schafer MARISCAL, WEEKS, MCINTYRE & FRIEDLANDER, P.A.
2901 North Central Avenue, Suite 200 Phoenix, Arizona 85012 Phone: (602) 889-5341 Facsimile: (602) 285-5100

[email protected] Attorneys for Defendants

IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR THE DISTRICT OF ARIZONA Patrice Jerome, plaintiff, vs. Midway Holdings, Inc. and Midway Chevrolet, Inc., defendants. No. CV 03-1913-PHX MHM PROPOSED VOIR DIRE

Pursuant to the Court's Order of September 17, 2007, the parties submit the following set of proposed voir dire questions:

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PROPOSED JOINT JURY VOIR DIRE QUESTIONS

Do you know any of the following: the parties; the parties' counsel; or the witnesses.

What is your current occupation (if retired, what was your occupation)? For how long (and if retired, how long have you been retired)? Have you held any other occupations in the past 10 years? If so, what? What company or organization do (did) you work for? What do (did) you do at work? Have you ever had management or supervisory responsibilities? Have you ever had the authority to hire or fire people? Have you ever worked in Human Resources or a personnel office? If you answered yes to any of the above questions, please explain. Has anyone in your family or a close friend ever worked in a personnel or human

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resources department? If yes, please list who (you, family, friend), what job, and when? Have you, anyone in your family, or a close friend ever owned your own business? What type of business? Have you, anyone in your family, or a close friend ever invested in someone else's business? What type of business? Do you know any of the other prospective jurors? Have you, anyone in your family, or a close friend ever worked for a lawyer or law firm? If yes, please list who (you, family, friend), what job, and when. Have you, anyone in your family, or a close friend ever worked for the court system? If yes, please list who (you, family, friend), what job, and when. Have you ever served as a juror? a. If so, how many times? b. When? c. What type of case was it? d. What was the result? e. How did you feel about jury service? -3-

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16.

Have you, anyone in your family, or a close friend ever sued or been sued? a. If yes, who sued or was sued (please include relation to you): b. Why? c. When? d. What was the result? e. Were you satisfied with the result?

17. 18.

What do you think about lawsuits in general? Do you disagree with this statement: "The law should allow an employer to select any qualified applicant for a position as long as the selection is not related to race, gender or other protected persons?"

19. 20.

Does any member of the jury feel that employees have too much say in the work place? Does any member of the jury feel that the federal government has no right to regulate an employer's right to hire and fire an employee?

21.

Does any member of the jury panel feel that women today sometimes take advantage of their status?

22.

Does any member of the jury panel feel that no person should be entitled to sue on the basis of harassment at the work place due to race, color, national origin, gender or religion?

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23.

Do you think that claims of sexual harassment are exaggerated as problems in the workplace?

24. 25. 26. 27. 28. 29.

Will you be able to follow the law the court gives even if you disagree with it? Is there any aspect of the case that you are uncomfortable with? Please identify any magazines or periodicals to which you subscribe. Please identify the content of any bumper stickers on your car. Please identify the people that you most admire. Please list what books you have recently read that you enjoyed?

Defendants': A. Questions Concerning Personal Decision-Making.

1. We would like to know a little bit about how you make decisions in your personal life. There are no right or wrong answers. By show of hands, how many would say you tend to make decisions based on first impressions or pretty quickly after finding out what the issue is? How many of you would say you tend to be slower and more deliberative when making decisions? 2. During the trial, Plaintiff will present her evidence first, and Defendants will present evidence afterwards. Will you agree to wait and consider all evidence from both sides, and hear me instruct you on the applicable law, before making decisions in this case? B. Personal Experiences.

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1. The Defendants in this case are Midway Holdings and Midway Chevrolet. Midway Holdings is comprised of the following car dealerships: Midway Infiniti, Midway Nissan, Midway GMC, Midway Buick, and Midway Pontiac. Has anyone been a Midway Holdings or Midway Chevrolet employee? If yes, do you have a complaint about the way you were treated? (Discuss any complaint privately.) Has anyone been a customer or prospective customer of any of the Midway dealerships I just mentioned? If yes, do you have a complaint about the way you were treated? (Discuss any complaint privately.) 2. Has anyone worked for a car dealership? If yes, do you have a complaint about the way you were treated at that employer? (Discuss any complaint privately.) Do any of you have family members or close friends who work or worked for car dealerships? If yes, to your knowledge, do they have a complaint about the way they were treated at that employer? (Discuss any complaint privately.) 3. Some of you may have purchased cars from car dealerships. If so, do you have a complaint about the way you were treated at any car dealership? (Discuss any complaint privately.) 4. Has anyone filed a lawsuit before? If yes, has anyone filed a sex discrimination or sex harassment lawsuit before? If so, please explain. Do any of you have family members or close friends who filed a lawsuit before? Do any of you have family members or close friends who filed a sex discrimination or sex harassment lawsuit before? If so, please explain. 5. Does anyone believe they were subjected to harassment or unfair treatment at work because of their sex? If so, please explain. Do any of you have family members or close friends who believe they were harassed or treated unfairly at work because of their sex? If so, please explain. 6. Does anyone believe that an employer automatically should be held responsible for alleged harassment that it did not know about? 7. Have you ever worked for employers who had a policy,

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a policy, procedure, or hotline to report a harassment complaint? If yes, was the complaint resolved after you reported the complaint? 8. Have any of you served on a jury of any kind before in any state or federal court? If yes, please explain when, where, the type of case, and whether a verdict was reached or not. 9. Have any of you ever been fired or laid off from a job?

When? Where? Why? Do any of you feel that you have been treated so unfairly by an employer that it would affect your ability to be a fair and impartial juror in this case? 10. Have any of you ever made a claim or filed suit against your current or former employer? What was the nature and outcome of the dispute? Will that influence in anyway your ability to be a fair and impartial juror in this case? 11. Do any of you have family members or friends who filed complaints against his or her employer? What was the nature and outcome of the complaint? Would the fact that your family member or friend filed a complaint against their employer influence you in any way in reaching a fair and impartial verdict in this case? C. Other Knowledge, Corporate Status, Parties, Attorneys, And Witnesses.

1. Does anyone have knowledge about this case from any source other than what you've heard in court today? 2. Midway Holdings and Midway Chevrolet are corporations.

Does anyone believe that just because a defendant is a corporation, it should pay money to plaintiffs who file lawsuits against it? 3. The Plaintiff in this case is Patrice Jerome. Do you or any family members or close friends know or work with Ms. Jerome? If so, please explain. 4. The Plaintiff is represented by Stephen Montoya of the law firm Montoya Jimenez P.A. The Defendants are represented by Stephanie Osteen and Tricia Schafer of the law firms -7-

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Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld LLP and Mariscal, Weeks, McIntyre & Friedlander, P.A. Do you know any of these attorneys or these law firms? Have you or any of your close friends or relatives ever been represented by these attorneys or law firms or had any prior interaction with them? If so, please explain. 5. The following people may testify as witnesses in this case. I will read the names of these witnesses and ask if you or your close friends or relatives know them. [witnesses identified by the parties]

6. Is there anything else in your background that you think we should know about but have not asked that could affect your ability to be a fair and impartial juror in this case? 7. case? 8. case? D. Ability to Apply Legal Standards. Do you know of any reason why you could not treat Midway Chevrolet fairly in this Do you know of any reason why you could not treat Midway Holdings fairly in this

1. Would the fact that this case involves a claim by an individual against corporations influence you to the point that you could not be fair and impartial in deciding the issues involved in this case? 2. If you are selected as a juror in this case, you will be required to put aside any sympathy you may feel and decide this case solely on the evidence introduced during the trial and the instructions that the trial court will give you concerning the law. Can you do that? 3. Is there anyone who believes that just because a person files a lawsuit and asks for a large sum of money, that the person is entitled to some money?

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Respectfully submitted this 19th day of October 2007. MONTOYA JIMENEZ A Professional Association

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Stephen G. Montoya 3200 North Central Avenue, Ste. 2550 Phoenix, Arizona 85012-2490 Attorney for Plaintiff

M. Brett Burns Stephanie K. Osteen Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld LLP 1700 Pacific Avenue Suite 4100 Dallas, Texas 75201 Attorney for Defendants

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