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.

Here’s #9 . . .

$4 Million for Blood Test Retaliation

In Schumann v. Dianon Systems Inc., a pathologist sued his employer, a health care laboratory, for wrongful termination and retaliation.

Schumann was employed from January 1993 through April 2005 at a Dianon Systems lab in Connecticut. In February 2005, the lab started using a new blood test to detect kidney disorders. Schumann complained to a VP of the company that the test wasn’t supported by the latest scientific research and could result in false positives that might endanger patient health. He contended that his continued opposition to the test resulted in him being fired on April 4, 2005.

The company denied the plaintiff’s claims. It asserted that its laboratory methods were appropriate and that the pathologist was terminated for legitimate reasons unrelated to his opposition to the test.

The court sided with the plaintiff, awarding him $4 million in compensatory damages.

Lesson for Employers

Four of the top ten big-$$$ cases this past year were for retaliation. As discussed here yesterday, be very careful that any adverse employment action you take as an employer is based purely on concrete, job-related reasons 100% unrelated to employee actions protected by law. If an employee complains — especially about company actions that could potentially endanger others — be extremely, really, very careful before taking action against him or her.

This entry was posted on Wednesday, November 18th, 2009 at 7:59 am and is filed under Employment Law News, Litigation, Retaliation. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.