The largest jury award ever for a U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission suit must be reduced to meet a statutory cap, the commission noted May 10 in final court filings. A court will have the final say over whether the award will be reduced, however.
A jury on May 2 awarded $240 million to 32 men with intellectual disabilities for severe abuse and disability discrimination. The jury which heard Equal Employment Opportunity Commission v. Hill Country Farms, Inc. in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Iowa, found that Hill County Farms, doing business as Henry’s Turkey Service, abused employees at two turkey processing plants in Iowa.
The verdict followed a September 2012 order from the court that Henry’s Turkey pay the men $1.3 million for unlawful disability-based wage discrimination.
The May 2 jury awarded each of the men $2 million in punitive damages and $5.5 million in compensatory damages, bringing the total judgment against the defunct company to $241.3 million.
EEOC presented evidence that the workers were subject to abusive verbal and physical harassment by the owners and staff of Henry’s Turkey. In addition, EEOC said the company restricted the men’s freedom of movement and imposed other harsh terms and conditions of employment such as requiring them to live in sub-standard living conditions. EEOC also said the company failed to provide adequate medical care when needed.
Such abuse violated the Americans with Disabilities Act, which prohibits discrimination based on disability, including intellectual disabilities, in terms and conditions of employment and wages, and bars disability-based harassment. EEOC said it filed the lawsuit (No. 3:11-cv-00041-CRW -TJS) after first attempting to settle the case through its conciliation process.
Because the award had to be reduced, EEOC requested that the district court judge award each worker the statutory maximum: $50,000. Henry’s suggested the same.
Compensatory and punitive damages are capped at different levels, depending on the size of the employer’s workforce. In this case, the company employed fewer than 100 employees, so each complainant can only receive $50,000. Companies with more than 501 may be liable for up to $300,000 for each worker involved (see ¶264 of the Guide).
EEOC and Henry’s suggestions still must be approved by a court.
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