Employment Law Verdicts - Discrimination Verdicts

Why You Spell Out Amounts in Agreement

webmaster@elinfonet.com (Employment Law Information Network) — Mon, 26 Mar 2012 00:00:00 EST

Since I try to avoid legalese where ever possible and eliminate as much unnecessary verbiage from agreements I prepare, I frequently look at the spelling out of dollar amounts, followed by the numerical sum in parentheses, "ten thousand dollars, ($10,000.00), and wonder if we couldn't just eliminate one of those.

Jury awards $168 Million in damages to physician assistant for harassment by male co-workers.

webmaster@elinfonet.com (Employment Law Information Network) — Mon, 12 Mar 2012 00:00:00 EST

In what is being viewed as the largest single-plaintiff sexual harassment verdict in the country, a physician assistant was awarded nearly $168 Million in damages and lost wages for her claims of sexual harassment and retaliation against a California hospital system. Chopourian v. Catholic Healthcare West, E.D.Cal., No. CIV S-09-2972(2/29/12). Ani Chopourian, a cardiac surgery physician assistant (P.A.) who earned a masters degree at UCLA and her P.A. credentials at Yale School of Medicine in 1999, convinced a jury that her work environment was rife with inappropriate comments and bullying, and that she had been terminated less than a week after filing the last in a series of complaints about her working conditions.

"Trial by Formula" Rejected and $15M Overtime Judgment Overturned

webmaster@elinfonet.com (Employment Law Information Network) — Mon, 13 Feb 2012 00:00:00 EST

In Duran v. U.S. Bank National Association, the California Court of Appeal, First Appellate District, overturned a $15 million judgment against U.S. Bank ("USB") entered in a case tried before Alameda County Superior Court Judge Robert Freedman. In its lengthy and very detailed opinion, the court shredded all the major trial management and evidentiary rulings made by the trial court, holding that its use of flawed statistical evidence and refusal to admit relevant testimony in support of USB's defense of exempt status denied USB its right to due process. In the first California appellate decision to apply the U.S. Supreme Court's 2011 Wal-Mart Stores v. Dukes decision, the court determined that the trial management plan was a fatally flawed exercise in "Trial by Formula." As a final repudiation of the trial court's rulings, the Duran court also ruled that the class should be decertified.

Settlement Highlights Importance of Considering State Law in Assessing Employment Practices

webmaster@elinfonet.com (Employment Law Information Network) — Mon, 30 Jan 2012 00:00:00 EST

Last week, in Meeks v. Allen Memorial Hospital, a state court in Iowa approved a $2 million settlement in a race discrimination class action against an Iowa hospital. This case is yet another reminder that health care employers must consider both federal and state laws when assessing their employment practices.

Settling a Discrimination or Harassment Lawsuit

webmaster@elinfonet.com (Employment Law Information Network) — Tue, 15 Nov 2011 00:00:00 EST

GOP presidential contender Herman Cain has been in the news for more than his political platform recently. Instead of addressing issues like job creation, Cain has been facing tough questions about on-the-job harassment. Specifically, Cain is having to deal with charges of unlawful harassment leveled against him when he was the head of the National Restaurant Association in the 1990s.

EEOC Strikes Again: SUPERVALU Pays to Settle "100% Healthy or Else" Case

webmaster@elinfonet.com (Employment Law Information Network) — Tue, 03 May 2011 00:00:00 EST

As we wrote in July 2010, the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) is cracking down on inflexible leave of absence policies that: (1) call for automatic termination when an employee cannot return to work upon expiration of the employer’s “maximum” medical leave period; or (2) require employees to be cleared to return to work with no restrictions before returning to work. Many employers believed these policies were nondiscriminatory because they applied neutrally to all employees on medical leave. The EEOC disagrees and is aggressively taking the position that these policies violate the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) requirement that requests for medical leave (including extended leave) and accommodation to return to work be assessed individually on a case-by-case basis.

MMA Body Slam

webmaster@elinfonet.com (Employment Law Information Network) — Wed, 26 Jan 2011 00:00:00 EST

Although the newspaper article calls it a wrongful termination claim, the facts emphasized in the article were that Thomas was not paid the commissions she was promised

Dealing a $2 Million Dollar Verdict in the California Wine Country.

webmaster@elinfonet.com (Employment Law Information Network) — Thu, 05 Aug 2010 00:00:00 EST

Sexual comments and jokes, including a Levitra pen that apparently grows in length, followed by a complaint with no follow up and then a termination were what a Sonoma County jury apparently believed was the hand Shannen De La Cruz , a minimum wage card dealer, had been dealt. $2 million harrassment verdict against Petaluma card room.

One of Largest Jury Verdicts in Gender Discrimination Class Action Awarded � What Lessons Can Be Learned

webmaster@elinfonet.com (Employment Law Information Network) — Fri, 28 May 2010 00:00:00 EST

As has been well-publicized, a jury in New York recently awarded $3.4 million in compensatory damages and $250 million in punitive damages in a gender discrimination class action against Novartis � one of the largest gender discrimination verdicts ever1� has provided a chilling example of the inherent risks of defending against a "policy and practice" discrimination class action fueled by anecdotal examples of isolated, inappropriate conduct The litigation is not yet over, as the remaining roughly 5600 women in the class now have the right to seek their own individual compensatory damages through an arbitration process, which could take another year to conclude. The plaintiff's counsel estimated that additional back pay awards could reach $1 billion or more. The judge can also order equitable relief, such as changes in Novartis' policies and procedures. Novartis continues to dispute the verdict and vows to appeal, and it is very possible that the verdict could be reduced through post trial motions or overturned at the appellate level.

The Note From the Jury That You Didn't Want.

webmaster@elinfonet.com (Employment Law Information Network) — Tue, 18 May 2010 00:00:00 EST

At least if you are on the defense side: Novartis Jury Asks About 'Range' of Damages . The note comes in a sex discrimination case brought by twelve named plaintiffs againt Novartis.