News & Analysis as of June 1, 2025

Hiring & Firing › Punitive Damages

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Hiring & Firing refers to the process of recruiting, interviewing and offering employment and the process of evaluating performance and dismissing employees. Hiring & Firing is a highly regulated area and can create tremendous liability for employers who fail to properly adhere to acceptable employment practices. Some of the potential pitfalls in this area stem from discriminatory hiring practices, improper performance evaluations, and retaliatory firings. less -

Ontario, Canada Court Finds Termination Provisions Unenforceable and Awards Employee Punitive Damages

Littler on 12/4/2024

Wilds v. 1959612 Ontario Inc., 2024 ONSC 3452, involves a wrongful dismissal action in which the employee brought a motion for summary judgment. The court found the termination provisions in her employment agreement were...more

White Employee Fired Amidst Corporate Diversity Initiative Wins Discrimination Claim But Loses Multi-Million Dollar Punitive...

Seyfarth Shaw LLP on 3/21/2024

Plaintiff, a white man, was a strong performer in his role before he was fired and replaced by three women, two of whom were racial minorities, amid a Diversity and Inclusion initiative that included a call to restructure the...more

Nebraska Court Orders Trucking Company to Pay Deaf Driver Punitive Damages, Lost Wages After Jury Awarded Millions

U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission... on 1/12/2024

Werner Enterprises Must Also Report Its Treatment of Future Deaf Applicants - ST. LOUIS – Werner Enterprises, Inc. and Drivers Management, LLC must pay $335,682 to a deaf truck driver months after an Omaha jury found in...more

Understanding the Interplay of Punitive Damages and Direct Claims in Trucking Accidents

Weber Gallagher Simpson Stapleton Fires &... on 12/22/2023

The recent case of Villagran v. Freightbull, Inc., No. 22-CV-2159 (E.D. Pa. Oct. 12, 2023, McHugh, J.) provides good case law for the trucking industry regarding the interrelatedness of claims for punitive damages and direct...more

Alberta, Canada Court Holds Senior Executive Personally Liable to Employer

Littler on 10/24/2023

In Breen v Foremost Industries Ltd, 2023 ABKB 552, the Court of King’s Bench of Alberta dismissed the claim of a President and CEO that he had been wrongfully dismissed from his employment, finding that his employment had...more

British Columbia Appeal Court Finds Employee’s Sexual Harassment of Subordinate not Sufficiently Serious to Justify His Dismissal

Littler on 10/18/2023

In Café La Foret Ltd. v. Cho, 2023 BCCA 354, the British Columbia Court of Appeal (BCCA) upheld a lower court’s determination that an employee’s sexual harassment of his subordinate was not sufficiently serious to justify his...more

EEOC Sues Omaha Hospitality Group for Disability Discrimination

U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission... on 9/29/2022

Hotel Fired Manager After He Was Hospitalized for Depression, Federal Agency Charges - ST. LOUIS – Operators of an Omaha hotel violated federal law when they fired a general manager after being hospitalized for depression,...more

EEOC Sues Hobby Lobby for Disability Discrimination

U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission... on 7/5/2022

Company Refused to Allow Service Dog as Reasonable Accommodation, Federal Agency Charges - ST. LOUIS – Hobby Lobby Stores, Inc., a national arts-and-crafts retailer, violated federal law when it refused to reasonably...more

Los Angeles Jury Hands $155 Million Holiday Gift to Fired Insurance Executive

Proskauer - California Employment Law on 12/20/2021

As we recently reported, California juries continue to award massive verdicts to employees with alarming regularity. And, just in time for the holidays, a Los Angeles Superior Court jury upped the ante on Thursday, handing a...more

$10 Million “Reverse” Race & Gender Discrimination Verdict Gives DE&I Programs a Halloween Fright

Littler on 11/1/2021

For the past several years, companies have been focused on creating and executing meaningful diversity, equity and inclusion (DE&I) programs to address the multi-faceted challenges—and opportunities—of diversifying their...more

EEOC Sues Manufacturing Companies for Disability Discrimination

U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission... on 10/21/2021

Man Fired for Disability-Related Absences, Federal Agency Charges - CHICAGO – Grief, Inc., an international manufacturing company, and American Flange, its wholly-owned subsidiary operating in the western suburbs of...more

EEOC Sues Geisinger Health and Affiliates for Disability Discrimination and Retaliation

U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission... on 10/1/2021

Health System Failed to Reasonably Accommodate Class of Workers with Disabilities, Federal Agency Charges - PHILADELPHIA – Geisinger Health, Geisinger Health System Foundation doing business as Geisinger Health System,...more

EEOC Sues Lodging Lane Hospitality for Sexual Harassment and Retaliation

U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission... on 9/30/2021

Hotel Manager Sexually Harassed Female Housekeeper for Months and Then Fired Her for Complaining About It, Federal Agency Charges - OXFORD, MS – Lodging Lane Hospitality, doing business as Home2 Suites and owned and...more

EEOC Sues TrueBlue, Inc., for Disability Discrimination

U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission... on 9/30/2021

Staffing Company Fired Employee with a Disability Instead of Providing Reasonable Accommodations, Federal Agency Charges - WASHINGTON- TrueBlue, Inc., a Tacoma, Washington.-based staffing company with branch offices...more

Excentia Human Services Sued by EEOC for Disability Discrimination

U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission... on 9/30/2021

Preschool Provider Refused to Employ Candidate with Cerebral Palsy, Federal Agency Charges - PHILADELPHIA – The Pai Corporation, doing business as Excentia Human Services and as Excentia and S. June Smith Center...more

EEOC Sues Suisan Company, Ltd for Racial Harassment and Retaliation

U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission... on 9/27/2021

Food Distributor Condoned Racial Harassment and Retaliated Against African American Employee for Complaining, Federal Agency Charges - HONOLULU – Suisan Company, Limited (Suisan), a food distributor on the Big Island of...more

EEOC Sues Pilot Freight Services for Disability Discrimination

U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission... on 9/27/2021

International Freight Company Fired Manager Because of His Cancer, Federal Agency Charges - ATLANTA – Pilot Freight Services, Inc., an international freight shipping and logistics company based in Atlanta, unlawfully fired...more

EEOC Files Disability Lawsuits in El Paso and Ft. Worth Based on COVID Related Discrimination

U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission... on 9/27/2021

Fabens Pharmacy and 151 Coffee Took Different Approaches to COVID-19, But Both Violated the ADA, EEOC Charged - DALLAS – The EEOC filed two lawsuits in Texas courts today, alleging that a pharmacy in Fabens and a...more

EEOC Sues Presidente Supermarket for Pregnancy Discrimination

U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission... on 9/24/2021

Company Fired Employee Because She Was Pregnant, Federal Agency Charged - MIAMI – Presidente Supermarket No. 31, Inc., a Miami location in a chain of over 30 supermarkets in Florida, violated federal law by firing an...more

EEOC Sues Stevens Transport for Disability Discrimination

U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission... on 9/24/2021

Trucking Company Refused to Hire Applicant After Learning He Had Taken Medical Leave at a Previous Job, Federal Agency Charges - DALLAS – A refrigerated transport carrier that services major companies in need of...more

California Jury Awards Employees $7.6 Million in Latest Gargantuan Wrongful Termination Verdict

Proskauer - California Employment Law on 9/9/2021

A Los Angeles jury has ordered an apartment building owner and property management company to pay $7.6 million to two former live-in apartment managers who claimed to have been wrongfully terminated and discriminated against...more

50 State Update On Pending Legislation Pertaining To Employer-Mandated Vaccinations

Husch Blackwell LLP on 3/5/2021

Per recent federal employment law guidance, private employers can generally require employees to get vaccinated for COVID-19 as long as they comply with federal employment laws that prohibit discrimination on the basis of...more

EEOC Sues McLane Northeast for Disability Discrimination

U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission... on 1/4/2021

Distribution Company Refused to Interview Applicant Because She was Deaf, Federal Agency Charges - BUFFALO – McLane Northeast, a distribution company with a facility outside Baldwinsville, N.Y., violated federal law by...more

Lucy’s Cantina Royale and Restaurant Group Sued by EEOC for Firing Pregnant Employee

U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission... on 9/23/2020

Employer Declared Employee Was ‘Not a Good Fit’ After It Learned of Her Pregnancy, Federal Agency Charges - NEW YORK – A restaurant group that includes Lucy’s Cantina Royale, a Mexican restaurant operating in Manhattan,...more

[Webinar] Background Checks: The Advent of the New Employment Class Action (Part 2) - September 10th, 11:00 am PT

McDermott Will & Emery on 9/9/2020

Class action litigation brought under the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) is on the rise—particularly in California—after the US Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit issued a 2017 decision applying a hypertechnical...more

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Hiring & Firing › Punitive Damages

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