Ouch,
While i agree that Walmart was wrong here in not trying to 'reasonably accommodate' this person, I do not agree with these type of punitive damage awards and see them generally as wrong when they do not reflect the damage inflicted.
And i understand the view that these type of punitive damage awards in the US are more tied to ensuring the corporation actually 'feels it', but still i feel that is a wrong premise from which to award judgements.
So while i don't support statutory maximums either, I also would not trust juries to decide the amount.
Walmart loses EEOC disability lawsuit that alleged discrimination against a longtime employee with Down syndrome
PUBLISHED FRI, JUL 16 2021
- Walmart must pay damages in a disability discrimination lawsuit filed by the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, the federal agency said Friday.
- Marlo Spaeth, a 16-year Walmart employee who has Down syndrome, was fired after the retailer changed her schedule and she struggled to manage the new hours.
- A jury awarded Spaeth more than $125 million in damages -- but Walmart said the maximum amount allowed under federal law is $300,000.
- Walmart spokesman Randy Hargrove said the retailer wanted to resolve the matter with Spaeth, but said the EEOC’s demands “were unreasonable.”
A Wisconsin federal court jury ruled that Walmart must pay more than $125 million in damages in a disability discrimination lawsuit filed by the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, the federal agency announced Friday.
That verdict was quickly reduced Thursday to a statutory maximum of $300,000 by the judge in the case, which involved the termination of Marlo Spaeth, a 16-year employee who has Down syndrome, from the Walmart Supercenter in Manitowoc, Wisconsin...
The jury in the case took less than four hours to reach its verdict Thursday. The verdict was announced shortly after jurors sent out a note asking if they were limited in the amount of damages they could award, and were told no, according to a summary of the proceedings released Friday.
The jury awarded Spaeth $150,000 for emotional pain and mental anguish and another $125 million in punitive damages.
After lawyers told the judge that the legal maximum amount of combined compensatory and punitive damages could not exceed $300,000, he ordered that amount as the judgment...