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Judge Awards Nearly $500K in Transgender Job Discrimination Case

Schroer's hearing to determine whether sex discrimination had led to a lost job offer at the Library of Congress began last August. On Tuesday, U.S. District Judge James Robinson ruled that Schroer was entitled to $491,190 in lost pay and damages due to discrimination, according to NPR. In their defense, the Library of Congress and Justice Department claimed that the Civil Rights Act did not outlaw discrimination against transsexuality. A spokesman for the Justice Department told NPR an appeal was pending. The court found the national library "guilty of sex stereotyping" for assuming Schroer would not have traditionally female characteristics.

PERUVIAN HOUSEKEEPER WINS UNEMPLOYMENT CASE

A state appeals court has ruled against Kobe and Vanessa Bryant for trying to stop their former housekeeper from receiving unemployment benefits. The California Unemployment Insurance Appeals Board affirmed the decision of Administrative Law Judge Mary McInerny, who said that Maria Jimenez quit because her employer repeatedly addressed her in a disrespectful and assaulting tone. “(The Bryants) required her to perform tasks that were repugnant and demeaning,” the judge said. “The claimant found working in this environment stressful and ultimately decided after a particularly upsetting incident with the supervisor that she could not return to the employment.” Jimenez, in a separate civil suit against the Bryants, claims that Vanessa Bryant continuously berated her and ordered her to put her hand in dog feces. Jimenez also alleges in the civil suit that the Bryants reneged on their duty to provide health insurance and to pay overtime wages. Under state and federal laws, Jimenez may draw up to 26 weeks of unemployment with extensions for another 56 weeks. She receives $326 a week.

PUNITIVE DAMAGES AVAILABLE FOR RETALIATORY FLSA FIRING

An employee who was fired in retaliation for reporting wage and benefit improprieties is entitled to recover punitive damages under the FLSA. A federal court in Pennsylvania interpreted the phrase "legal or equitable relief" under the anti-retaliatory provision of the FLSA to include punitive damages. Marrow v. Allstate Security & Investigative Services Inc. The court reasoned that deterring employers from punishing workers who exercise FLSA rights by allowing punitive damages helps effectuate the purposes of the law.

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FLORIDA STARBUCKS MANAGER WINS CLASS ACTION STATUS AGAINST COFFEE COMPANY

Broward County judge grants class-action wage violations lawsuit against Starbucks. As reported by The Seattle Times, the Florida Starbucks manager, Ronald Reed, and his employment law attorneys, filed a lawsuit alleging Starbucks violated federal wage laws by not paying overtime to their coffee supervisors. The legal action covers store managers who worked overtime hours from January 15, 2006, to the present and were not paid as required by federal fair wage laws. Starbucks company executives were ordered by a California court to pay an estimated $100 million in tips and interest to baristas who worked for the coffee chain and were required to share tips with shift managers and supervisors. Starbucks is appealing the California legal decision.

SEXUAL HARASSMENT CLAIM PAYS $60,000 TO VICTIMS

Sacramento restaurant group Paramoor, Inc., will pay $60,000 to two line cooks and provide sexual harassment training for some staff to settle an employment discrimination lawsuit, the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission said Monday. The EEOC had charged that Paramoor allowed the sexual harassment of the cooks at the former Paragary's Gold River Bar and Oven, which has since been sold and is now operating under new ownership and a new name. According to the EEOC's suit, the kitchen manager and a co-worker sexually harassed Leticia Fernandez and Juana Jimenez. The harassment included lewd comments and gestures, questions about their personal sex lives, propositions, and slapping on their buttocks. When the women asked for the harassment to stop, Paramoor failed to adequately investigate or remedy the illegal harassment, the agency said. "We commend the bravery of the women in this case to come forward," said William Tamayo, regional attorney for the EEOC. "Sexual harassment in the workplace is illegal -– no one should be required to work in a hostile environment." Under the consent decree settling the suit, Paramoor denies culpability but agreed to pay $60,000 to the two women. The restaurant group, which owns 12 restaurants and bars in and around Sacramento, will also provide sexual harassment training for its supervisors and human resources manager. It will also revise its policies and procedures for handling sexual harassment complaints.

J.C. PENNEY TO PAY $50,000 TO END RACE DISCRIMINATION CASE

J.C. Penney has agreed to settle a racial discrimination suit filed by Reinell Singh, an African-American employee at a Staten Island store. Singh alleged her supervisor used racially offensive names when referring to her and ultimately fired her because of her race. She filed EEOC charges claiming J.C. Penney violated her rights under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. Under the settlement agreement, J.C. Penney will pay Singh $50,000 in compensatory damages and operate under an EEOC-monitored three-year consent decree requiring the company to adopt new anti-discrimination and complaint procedures. The company must also provide anti-discrimination training and display in all stores a poster showing employee rights under Title VII.

UNION ORDERED TO KEEP PAYING

After being held liable for discrimination against non-whites, a union was ordered to pay $2.6 million and $900,000 a year until further notice following back pay hearings. The Second Circuit found that district courts have broad discretion to fashion a remedy. (EEOC v. Local 638, Local 28 Sheet Metal Workers Int'l Ass'n)

JURY FINDS OUTBACK STEAKHOUSE GUILTY OF SEX DISCRIMINATION AND ILLEGAL RETALIATION; AWARDS VICTIM $2.2 MILLION

The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) announced today that a jury in the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Florida awarded $2.2 million to Dena Zechella, a former employee of Outback Steakhouse. The jury found that Outback paid Zechella - a female - considerably less than a similarly situated male employee who performed the same job duties. The jury also found that Outback had subjected Zechella to different terms and conditions of employment because of her sex and terminated her in retaliation for having complained about the discriminatory treatment.The jury awarded Zechella $64,000 in back wages, $50,000 in compensatory damages for her emotional pain and suffering, and $2.1 million in punitive damages after concluding that Outback had acted with malice and reckless indifference to Zechella's federally protected rights. Zechella later realized that Outback hired the male employee whom she had trained at almost twice her salary. When Zechella complained again, Outback's CEO promised to resolve the situation by the time she returned from vacation. When Zechella returned from vacation, however, Outback summarily terminated her employment. The company also refused to give Zechella her last paycheck until she signed a release. Zechella refused to sign the release and, instead, filed her charge with the EEOC.

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