Michael E. Taccino, Sr. v. Forest City Residential Management, Inc., and Rose Community Management, LLC

Summary

The West Virginia Supreme Court of Appeals affirmed a circuit court’s grant of judgment as a matter of law to residential property-management defendants after the plaintiff’s case-in-chief. The court held that the circuit court reasonably accommodated the pro se plaintiff, that Rule 50(a) did not violate his right to a jury trial, and that the evidence was insufficient to support claims under West Virginia’s implied warranty of habitability statute or the Federal Fair Housing Act. The decision is a per curiam memorandum decision issued without oral argument.

Holdings

1. The circuit court reasonably accommodated Taccino as a pro se litigant and did not err in handling his presentation of evidence and argument.
2. Granting judgment as a matter of law under Rule 50(a) did not violate Taccino's constitutional right to a jury trial because the evidence presented no legally sufficient issue of fact for the jury to decide.
3. The circuit court properly granted respondents judgment as a matter of law because Taccino's case-in-chief failed to provide legally sufficient evidence supporting either his West Virginia implied-warranty-of-habitability claim or his Federal Fair Housing Act reasonable-accommodation claim.

Questions Presented

1. Whether the circuit court reasonably accommodated Taccino as a pro se litigant.
2. Whether granting judgment as a matter of law under Rule 50(a) violated Taccino's constitutional right to a jury trial.
3. Whether the evidence presented during Taccino's case-in-chief was legally sufficient to submit his Federal Fair Housing Act and implied-warranty-of-habitability claims to the jury.

Disposition

affirmed