When does $5,000,000 not equal $5,000,000?
Elizabeth Graham worked as a benefits generalist in the human resources department of Bristol Hospice Holdings. She filed (and later withdre...
Topic: jury verdicts
An adverse jury verdict is just a number on a piece of paper
By Jon Hyman
Late last week, a federal jury tagged Walmart with a verdict totaling more than $125 million in a disability discrimination lawsuit the EEOC...
25 million reasons to tell a good story
By Jon Hyman
Trying an employment case to a jury is an art. You are limited by a jury’s attention span (which, by the way, is getting worse as a result o...
The “when” of counting employees for damage caps in federal discrimination cases
By Jon Hyman
Counting is wonderful, Counting is marvelous, Counting’s the best thing to do. Counting is happiness, Counting is ecstas...
“He grabbed her, threw her to the floor, pulled up her shirt, masturbated and ejaculated on her” = $95 million (wow)
By Jon Hyman
The acts of sexual harassment alleged by Ashley Alford against her supervisor, Richard Moore, in Alford v. Aaron Rents, Inc. are among most...
Ohio appellate court slashes state’s largest discrimination verdict by more than 75%
By Jon Hyman
It has been almost two years since a Cuyahoga County jury handed down what remains the state’s largest single-plaintiff employment verdict: ...
Quicken Loans beats multi-million dollar overtime claim
By Jon Hyman
The Department of Labor may not be the most hospitable place for employers these days. Federal juries, however, can prove to be just the opp...
More on cancer as a disability
By Jon Hyman
Last week I wrote how businesses would likely see more employees claim cancer as a protected disability under the Americans with Disabilitie...
The best way to settle an employment case
By Jon Hyman
Yesterday at Jottings By An Employer’s Lawyer , Michael Fox praised the Employment Law Group for announcing a jury trial loss in a blog pos...
If you can’t trust your son…. Multi-million dollar jury verdict for boss’s son’s theft of trade secrets
By Jon Hyman
According to the Youngstown Business Journal , a federal court jury awarded Allied Erecting & Dismantling $3.046 million for claims that...
The dark side of discrimination litigation
By Jon Hyman
The San Francisco Chronicle reports that a jury awarded a former applicant for a job a Lucasfilm $113,800 in damages on a pregnancy discrim...
When should you get an attorney involved with a problem employee? As soon as possible.
By Jon Hyman
A few weeks ago I wrote about what employers need to know about EEOC investigations . I suggested that employers get attorneys involved “as ...
Nashville jury rejects associational harassment claim
By Jon Hyman
If a white employee stands up for her black co-workers, and is then ostracized and called racially-charged names because of it, is she entit...
A cautionary lesson in litigation management
By Jon Hyman
10 years ago, an Atlanta restaurant fired its highest ranking female manager. Last month, a federal jury finally dismissed her sexual harass...
The swift hand of justice
By Jon Hyman
Next time you consider whether you really want to litigate a case, consider the following case study. On Friday, I reported about a case i...
Discrimination verdicts rise 70% in one year
By Jon Hyman
Earlier this week I reported that fewer plaintiffs are winning their federal employment cases . Another study, however, suggests that those ...
'Tis better to be in federal court after all
By Jon Hyman
I don't think I'm giving away any state secrets of the defense bar by saying that all told, employers would much rather be in federa...
Study suggests trials too risky; are lawyers really to blame?
By Jon Hyman
It is no surprise that nearly 90% of all civil cases settle before they ever get before a jury. The New York Times is reporting on a study ...
46.6 million reasons to think about settlement
By Jon Hyman
In the largest verdict Ohio history, and what might be the largest single-plaintiff employment verdict ever, a Cuyahoga County jury has awar...
Some folks call it a jury verdict, I call it a lot of money
By Jon Hyman
A federal jury in Forth Worth, Texas, has answered the age old question: How much is it worth if a female employee receives depraved and vio...