Some of the jurors waiting to be taken home:
Posted on 03/16/2006 2:09:51 PM PST by barj
$6.5 million awarded in job bias verdict Jury grants judgment to Sonoma County employee suffering from panic disorder By LORI A. CARTER THE PRESS DEMOCRAT
In what may be the largest civil judgment in Sonoma County history, a jury awarded a county employee with fear of crowds $6.5 million in damages in an employment discrimination lawsuit. After a five-week Superior Court trial, the six-woman, six-man panel awarded $1.5 million in lost wages and $5 million in pain-and-suffering and other noneconomic damages to George Alberigi of Forestville.
Alberigi, 52, a Medi-Cal eligibility case worker for Sonoma County's Human Services Department, argued that the county refused to accommodate his disability by allowing him to work with clients over the phone instead of in person.
He has been diagnosed with panic disorder and agoraphobia, a condition that makes it difficult to interact with strangers, since 1986.
Calling the verdict "way out of line" and "clearly aberrational," county lawyers are evaluating legal avenues that include seeking a new trial.
The jury deliberated for five days before returning verdict and damage awards late Tuesday. Jurors also awarded Alberigi attorneys' fees, which could add another six figures to the total, said his lawyer, Steve Murphy of San Francisco
"They were outraged," he said. "It was a combination of his long-term employment with a good work history and the county's unreasonable position."
County lawyers are reviewing the case for possible appeal issues, but first are more likely to seek a retrial, County Counsel Steven Woodside said Wednesday. Such a motion must be filed within 10 days.
"Everyone around here was stunned by the verdict, particularly the amount of the verdict, which we think is excessive and very possibly precipitated upon factors which should not have been considered," he said.
Based on conversations with jurors after the verdict and a review of jury instructions, Woodside said jury members may have improperly amplified their award by factoring in the lawyer's share of the judgment.
Both sides said the award was the largest they've seen in Sonoma County and among the largest in the greater Bay Area.
The total, should it stand, dwarfs a $3.5 million award granted by a Sonoma County jury in 1995 to a plane-crash survivor and the $2 million given in 2004 to parents of a teenager killed when a cement truck rolled over on her car.
Alberigi was a 14-year employee of the county when his doctors ordered him off work in July 2004.
For most of that time, the county accommodated his condition by allowing him to conduct client interviews on the telephone, Murphy said. Alberigi received positive job reviews and won the "distinguished employee award" in 2000.
But when Alberigi sought a promotion in 2001, he was told he would be required to meet clients face-to-face, Murphy said. He was later told that because he could not perform one of the primary duties of the job, the county was not required to employ him, Murphy said.
"That sent him on a downward slide," he said, and Alberigi eventually went on permanent medical disability. He filed suit in 2003.
Woodside said Alberigi refused offers of other positions that don't require interaction with the public. Murphy said one job was clerk-typist, an offer he called "insulting" for a long-term case worker.
"The view of the county has been that one of the essential functions of his job is to have face-to-face contact with clients," Woodside said. "Unfortunately, he was unable to perform that function."
Murphy said the monetary award reflected jurors' recognition of how debilitating the situation has been for Alberigi.
"He went from a guy who was high-performing and very happy, with a serious mental condition, but able to function to someone who isn't able to function anymore," he said. "He's pretty much homebound at age 52. He probably won't be able to find another job."
Other multi-million dollar jury awards in the region include a federal judge's $5.25 million race- and age-discrimination award to a Santa Rosa American Indian man in 2000; a $1.5 million jury award to a Graton woman whose husband burned to death in a 1990 fire caused by a leaking propane tank; and a 2005 Mendocino County jury award of $4.25 million to parents of a 13-year-old boy who drowned at the city pool during a swimming class.
I hate talking on the phone and would rather talk to people in person. If I let my company known this and they refuse to accommodate me what are my chances of a 6.5 million dollar judgment! /S
But what the heck--I'm starting to feel afraid, very afraid, of my desk. I think I need to start working--from a hammock--at home. No? I can't? Then where's my money?
Don't forget you owe me a 10% finder's fee for the idea.
No problem. As soon as I can get transferred to the Left Coast I will submit my phobia. We are in the money! LOL
Freakin' California.
I'd rather not talk to anybody at all, but my job requires it. Instead of suing my employer, I suck it up and deal with it.
Some of the jurors waiting to be taken home:
Me too. But just think 6.5 million because your employer told you to suck it up and deal with it. /S
(Denny Crane: "I Don't Want To Socialize With A Pinko Liberal Democrat Commie. Say What You Like About Republicans. We Stick To Our Convictions. Even When We Know We're Dead Wrong.")
Now, now. They probably also will have to add a checkbox for "Do you fear large crowds?" on the pre-employment questionaire.
I guess it doesn't matter when you fill out a job application as to the actual job duties you apply for anymore, since NOT being able to do the job can get you a FAT check from a brain-dead jury pool.
So it pays to be a whining loser with a made up syndrome.
He knew he couldn't interact face to face with people so he wanted a promotion to a position that required face to face interaction. How do they get 1.5 mill in lost wages? Do case workers make a half mill per year? The sad part is that it took the mentally disturbed jurists five days to come up with this verdict. Loosers
That's why they pay those big bucks to "Jury selection Experts" to know who to seat on the jury.
Of course, it ALWAYS includes those who hand out mega-millions with the understanding that they, too, may be a plaintiff someday, and it will be their "turn" to win "Life's Lottery".
Do they ask potential jurists " What would you do if you had a brain?"
I'd unravel ev'ry riddle
For any individ'le
In trouble or in pain
With the thoughts you'd be thinkin'
You could be another Lincoln,
If you only had a brain.
Oh, I could tell you why
The ocean's near the shore,
I could think of things I never thunk before
And then I'd sit and think some more.
I would not be just a nuffin'
My head all full of stuffin'
My heart all full of pain.
I would dance and be merry
Life would be a ding-a-derry
If I only had a brain--Whoa!
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