Top Ten Employment Lawsuits
Over the next few weeks, we’ll be counting down the top 10 most “noteworthy” verdicts/settlements from the past year, according to the fine folks at Jury Verdict Research.
Coming in at #10 . . .
$3.6 Million for Alleged Post-testimony Retaliation
In Bender v. City of Los Angeles, a male police officer claimed that the city retaliated against him after he testified in a sex harassment case on behalf of a female police officer.
The parties’ positions couldn’t have been farther apart . . .
The plaintiff alleged that after he testified, the city (1) dropped him from his unit, (2) demoted him to a lower rank, (3) slashed his salary and then (4) transferred him to a desk assignment that required a four-hour commute time. The defendant denied the plaintiff’s allegations and asserted that the plaintiff was disciplined for (1) storing explosives in an inappropriate manner, (2) being insubordinate and (3) not working well with other officers.
The court sided with the plaintiff, awarding him $3.6 million in compensatory damages.
Lesson for Employers
As we’ll see over the course of our countdown, retaliation cases can be costly (and difficult to disprove) for employers. In fact, the median award for retaliation cases over the past seven years is $225,000.
Be very careful before disciplining an employee who recently engaged in protected activity, including complaining of discrimination, filing a worker’s compensation claim, taking medical leave, participating in an investigation and/or testifying at a hearing. If you don’t have concrete, job-related facts that are 100% unrelated to any of the items in the foregoing list, don’t take action.
Source: Jury Award Trends and Statistics (2009 Edition)
