$46 Million in Alleged Evidence-tampering Case
An Ohio jury awarded more than $46 million to an employee who alleged that he was fired after refusing to terminate three older employees because he felt it would constitute age discrimination.
The jury awarded Ronald Luri $3.5 million in lost wages and a whopping $43.1 million in punitive damages. Luri worked for waste collection company Republic Services.
According to published reports, jurors were “dismayed” by Republic’s alleged “evidence-tampering.” The jurors said they felt the key piece of evidence was a memo written by Luri’s boss. According to a computer expert retained by Luri’s lawyer, the boss post-dated the memo and added two paragraphs critical of Luri’s performance a full two weeks after Luri filed his lawsuit. Jurors also reportedly were troubled by Republic’s alleged efforts to prevent Luri from finding work in the Cleveland area after it fired him.
Republic vigorously disputes the allegations and said it plans to appeal.
The Lessons
As we’ve pointed out repeatedly here on the Blawg, litigation can be a very expensive proposition. Click here for our litigation tips, including early case evaluation and settlement procedures.
Judges and juries can smell when an employer may not have been acting fairly. If there is any evidence that you treated an employee unfairly and/or unlawfully, you need to strongly consider whether going to court is the best option. Also, avoid any temptation to post-date documents or change evidence after the fact to make a case look more favorable. Judges and juries hate that.
Click here for more on this case. Special thanks to the Ohio Employment Law Blog.
