Two harassment plaintiffs. Two jury trials. Two plaintiffs’ verdicts.
The difference? A factor of 300.
One plaintiff got $50,000; the other $15,000,000.
Surely there’s a rational basis for this dramatic difference? You tell me.
First, the big winner. Newsday.com (AP) reports: “Jury awards sexual harassment victim $15 million”
A jury awarded a 24-year-old woman more than $15 million in a sexual harassment case Friday, though with federal and state limits on punitive damages she stands to collect a fraction of that.
[She] said her boss . . . began harassing her shortly after she went to work . . . in 2001. [She]. . . filed an internal complaint in early 2002. After a company investigation, she said that she was told there was no harassment and that co-workers didn’t corroborate her claims. Later, however, she learned that was false.
After a two-week trial, the jury awarded . . . $45,000 for lost earnings, $100,000 for pain and suffering, and $15 million in punitive damages . . . .
[She] claimed that her boss . . . made unwanted advances, including sexual comments, and inappropriately hugged her, slapped her on the rear and poked her in private areas. She said she was victimized further by the company’s response.
According to court papers, company officials said Krouse’s management style was inappropriate, but his actions showed only favored treatment, not sexual harassment.
Now the lawsuit lottery “loser.” The Denver Post reports: “$50,000 in sex harassment”
A federal jury Thursday awarded $50,000 to a former female employee . . . for having suffered sexual harassment by the owner [of the company that employed her]. . . .
Testimony during the three-day trial included reports of [the owner's] walking around his offices and the fax machine clad in only a towel after working out, demanding kisses from female employees before granting them bonuses, and attempting to grab one female’s breast.
Did she suffer less than 1% as much as the other woman? I know we can’t expect standardized damages like in work comp. ($10,000 per grope?), and these stories don’t tell all the facts, but doesn’t anybody else think something’s a bit off kilter here?
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