Holy smokes: Pregnant employee awarded $185M in discrimination lawsuit
A recent verdict just put employers on notice: Juries will look to severely punish — and make an example of — businesses guilty of sex and pregnancy discrimination.
A California jury just awarded Rosario Juarez, a former store manager for AutoZone in National City, CA, a staggering $185 million in punitive damages in her sex and pregnancy discrimination lawsuit against the large retailer.
Think that got AutoZone’s attention?
Juarez’s lawsuit claimed that after she informed her district manager that she was pregnant, her work conditions drastically changed.
She told ABC News, her manager responded by saying, “I feel sorry for you.” She then claimed that shortly after that exchange, her work responsibilities doubled. Plus, even through she met all of her sales targets, she was constantly berated by her manager.
“He was constantly telling me, ‘You can’t handle it. You can’t perform under your situation,’” Juarez told ABC News.
Eventually, she was demoted. And at that point she filed a complaint with the state.
Soon thereafter, she was fired.
That’s when she filed a civil suit claiming gender and pregnancy discrimination.
Will the award stick?
Prior to the nine-figure verdict, the jury awarded Juarez $900,000 in compensatory damages for lost wages and emotional distress.
But what about the $185 million award that was handed down just a few days later? Will it stick?
Probably not, although she’ll likely still receive a handsome some of money — somewhere in the neighborhood of a few million dollars — anyway.
The reason she won’t collect the lottery-ticket amount: Punitive damages must bear some relationship to the compensatory award — and they typically can’t exceed a 9:1 ratio.
Still, the $185 million figure will take it’s toll on AutoZone in the court of public opinion. The figure has grabbed national headlines and is likely sinking the retailer reputation, especially among women.
So what happens now? Employment law attorney Jon Hyman, author of the Ohio Employer’s Law Blog predicts AutoZone and Juarez will continue to do the courtroom tango — with AutoZone appealing the verdict and Juarez firing back by filing motions seeking attorneys’ fees.
Then, ultimately, Hyman says the two sides will likely come to some sort of confidential settlement.
Cite: Juarez v. AutoZone Stores, Inc.
