Stephane J. Wantou Siantou v. CVS RX Services, Inc.

Can a District Court judge invite the parties counsel to a bench conference for the specific goal of preventing the plaintiff from listening to the discussion, then in the private conference secure the counsels agreements to dismiss the impaneled jury and postpone the next phase of the trial, without infringing on the plaintiff 5th Amendment right to due process and 7th Amendment right to a jury trial? Can the 4th Circuit hold that insubordination is dispositive of a retaliation case when other Circuit Courts have ruled otherwise, notably the 1st and the 7th Circuits, without providing an explanation? Can a District Court grant a defendant’s Motion for Judgment as a Matter of Law at trial, under Rule 50(a) by weighing evidence, when the plaintiff case and testimony have not been impeached, without reviewing the evidence and without explaining what evidence its decision rests on? Where a plaintiff makes a prima facie case and presents evidence of mendacity and dishonesty in the explanation given to terminate him, can the employer be granted summary judgment in a retaliation case? In deciding on summary judgment, whether the District Court can adopt the defendant version of the facts when it is contradicted in the record.