Bandera v. City of Quincy
United States Court of Appeals for the First Circuit
344 F.3d 47 (1st Cir. 2003)
Kathleen Bandera (plaintiff) sued the City of Quincy (defendant) for sexual harassment in her role as a city commission's executive director. At trial, her witness Nancy Coletta testified both about her own harassment experience and, in less detail, about her feelings regarding Bandera's allegations. The City objected to the latter testimony, but its objections either went unexplained or addressed only timing, never the ground that the testimony was improper lay-witness opinion. The jury found for Bandera and awarded $135,000 in punitive damages, and the City appealed.
Whether an evidentiary objection is preserved for appeal when its basis was never stated to the trial court at the time it was made.