How have the courts interpreted a motion for a new trial for abuse of discretion?

We review a district court's order granting a motion for a new trial for abuse of discretion. Rinehart v. Wedge, 943 F.2d 1158, 1159 (9th Cir.1991). In reviewing jury verdicts alleged to be inconsistent, we "must uphold [them] unless it is impossible 'under a fair reading' to harmonize the answers." Omar v. Sea-Land Service, Inc., 813 F.2d 986, 991 (9th Cir.1987).

In determining that the verdicts were inconsistent, the district judge reasoned that plaintiff's claim arose not from "an isolated act of operational negligence" but from "a condition--in this case, that of the galley floor." It relied on Bernardini v. Rederi A/B Saturnus, 512 F.2d 660 (2d Cir.1975), in which the court held that "if the deck was not in an unseaworthy condition, then the Shipowner bore no duty to eliminate an unseaworthy condition or to warn the longshoreman plaintiff of the danger. This is the exceptional case where a breach of duty can be constructed only if the deck was in an unseaworthy condition." Id. at 664. With respect to the case before her, the district judge said: