Litigation

HUGE HARASSMENT VERDICT AGAINST CHRYSLER FOR ROCKFORD AREA MAN

By Mark P. Loftus, Esq.

Something else that was overlooked by the Chicago-area news outlets...

A federal jury in Winnebago County, Illinois recently hammered Chrysler in a religious and ethnic harassment case. Otto May, a Cuban-born Jew, had worked at the Belvidere, Illinois Chrysler plant for 22 years as a pipefitter. During that time he had been repeatedly harassed because of his ethnic background and religion. His tires had been slashed. Vile threatening messages had been scribbled on his locker["Kill the Jew" and "Heil Hitler" two of the more appalling examples]. May filed suit against Chrylser, claiming that the company hadn't taken sufficent action to put a stop to the harassment.

Last week the jury returned an enormous verdict, awarding May $709,000 in compensatory damages and $3.5 million dollars in punitive damages.

Congrats to Karen Doran and Deanne Medina, the attorneys who represented May.

Full post as published by Illinois Lawyer Blog on September 11, 2010 (boomark / email).