The definition of workplace violence also was up for grabs as lawyers tried to prove that, in addition to violating their clients' civil rights, the giant drug store chain was guilty of negligence in its hiring, retention and supervision of its employees.

Discrimination is a subjective concept, Washoe County District Court Judge Janet Berry said during last month's trial. Indeed, the jury took only 45 minutes to decide Feb. 13 that Walgreens did not discriminate against the four men from Houston during a visit to a drug store in Reno in 2003.

"I doubt you'll find an expert witness who can tell you what racial discrimination is," Berry said.

The issue of when behavior becomes violent proved equally elusive and could receive more scrutiny when the plaintiffs file their planned appeal with the Nevada Supreme Court.

For example, can a photo lab clerk slamming a door strike fear in a customer?

And what about kicking boxes or punching a freezer in the back store room? Is it a sign that a volatile worker is about to explode? Or just an acceptable way to blow off some steam when dealing with a long line of demanding customers?

Bruce Johnson and the other three men claimed the Walgreens clerk, Richard Scott McCord, slammed a door, called them the n-word and walked off the job when they complained about the quality of photographs developed at the store four years ago.

Their lawsuit said the company's management knew, or should have known, that McCord had a history of problems with his temper and that he should not have been put in a customer service position.

"There's a lot of conduct Mr. McCord engaged in in the workplace that violates (Walgreens) policy," said Ian Silverberg, one of the lawyers representing the four Texas men.

Silverberg said that, among other things, the appeal would challenge rulings by Berry that prohibited the jury from hearing some information about McCord's temper as well as other cases of discrimination lawsuits brought against Walgreens in other states.

He said McCord's temper was especially relevant because it showed he had been in violation of Walgreens' policy against violence in the workplace but never reprimanded.

Walgreens' lawyers argued the company's policy against workplace violence was irrelevant because no physical altercation occurred.

The men's claim was they were "provided service based on race," said Clark Vellis, one of the lawyers for the Deerfield, Ill.-based drugstore chain. "This policy has nothing to do with that. You'd have to have some physical violence."

And Vellis said even if McCord's actions were violent, "violent behavior does not automatically equal discrimination."

Roxanne Conlin, whose Des Moines, Iowa, law firm specializes in discrimination and civil rights cases, said the question is whether the employee's behavior presents "a foreseeable source of harm to his co-workers."

The attorney general in Hawai'i issued a workplace violence manual that uses the definition of violence by the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, which includes "displays of violence, threats of violence, intimidation, harassment, bullying, damage to property and other inappropriate or disruptive behavior." The manual was issued after Byran Uyesugi fatally shot seven co-workers at Xerox Corp. in Honolulu in 1999.

Berry left it to the jury to decide what constituted "violence," which she said could be verbal or nonverbal.

McCord testified he slammed a door and walked off the job in a confrontation with the four men, but denied he used a racial slur. He said he had been trying to leave for an overdue lunch break and became upset with his assistant manager when she left him to deal with the men's complaint about having to pay for photos they felt were not processed properly.

The jury heard testimony from the assistant manager, Emily Whitehead, that she previously had discussed McCord's temper with the store manager, Jeff Pinto.

The jury also heard that McCord had kicked some boxes and punched a freezer in the back room before, and that a report on Walgreens' internal investigation of the men's complaint included the notation "manager says Scott has a temper" — something Pinto denied during the trial.

Pinto acknowledged he was aware McCord had kicked a box and punched a freezer door.

"I don't think it's violence. I think it's blowing off steam. It didn't hurt anybody. It didn't hurt any property," he said.

Whitehead said under cross-examination from Silverberg that she didn't believe McCord was guilty of violence in the workplace.

"You're asking about tempers and violence, and it's two different things," Whitehead said.

"Customers can be very, very demanding. I've been called some choice names. I've hit boxes before," she said. "I've not damaged any merchandise. I'm letting off steam and I'm not going to let customers see that."

Johnson testified during the trial that he feared McCord might be going to get a gun when he slammed a door and stormed out of the store.

"He frightened us to death," Johnson said. "Immediately in my mind, I thought about the Columbine killings. It was the most frightening event in a retail outlet I had ever experienced in my life."

Johnson said the fact the jury deliberated for only 45 minutes told him it didn't examine all the facts properly. He also wants to challenge the fact there was only one black person in the jury pool of 70 and none among the jurors.