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Judge upholds $2.6-million discrimination verdict against MBTA; tells authority to stop whining
By adamg on Thu, 01/19/2017 - 3:46pm
A federal judge today upheld a former Green Line operator's verdict in a discrimination case against the MBTA saying that, if anything, the discrimination against her was even worse than shown by evidence admitted at her trial, because the T failed to act on an earlier finding she had been discriminated against.
A jury in US District Court in Boston last October agreed with Michelle Dimanche, who is black, that white supervisors harassed her - and ordered black co-workers to join in - before she was fired in 2013. The jury in US District Court in Boston awarded her $1.325 million in compensatory damages and another $1.3 million in punitive damages.
The T filed a request for a new trial, saying the punitive-damages amount was excessive, but Judge William Young today denied that request:
The Court must draw all inferences in favor of the jury's verdict and will engage in no speculation as to their damages analysis. Here, it is sufficient to observe that there is ample evidence in support of the verdict. Indeed, if anything, the plaintiff was disadvantaged by the Courts perhaps erroneous refusal to admit in evidence the earlier finding of discrimination against the plaintiff on the part of the MBTA by an independent hearing officer. ... The MBTA appeared to have learned nothing from this finding. The award of punitive damages was not excessive.
The T did win a minor victory: Young ordered a reduction in the amount of interest it will have to pay on the verdict award.
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Comments
Never was any evidence in this case
Sounds like she got over on the T this time.
You were a Judge or a Juror?
Verdicts like this don't happen with "no evidence".
Maybe you should read the rulings and try again.
With 'No Evidence' ...
Without any evidence, cases generally don't even get to trial. There's a 'summary judgment' for the defendant.
Plus, these judges are savvy in judging what evidence there is.
I did read the ruling
And it was all conjecture, no definitive proof. It was essentially her word versus everyone else.
Terrific
&2.6m in damages, that money could be used to fix switches of subway cars. Thanks a lot lady who sued.
FTFY
$2.6m in damages, that money could be used to fix switches of subway cars. Thanks a lot obnoxious supervisors in need of a lesson in anti-discrimination workplace rules.
YOU'RE RIGHT...
I'm sure if you were discriminated against, spoke up about it, and then were further harassed then fired, losing a stable well-paying job with a pension, you'd probably roll over and take it for the good of the commonwealth too.
WE GOT A REAL AMERICAN HERO OVER HERE FOLKS!
She was awarded damages to compensate for those losses
But an idiot judge decided to give her an extra undeserved lottery payment in the form of "punitive damages." - the biggest SCAM going in legal cases.
And what was the basis for this extra payment - because somebody arbitrarily decided to grant it to her.
Anybody who reads of this case should be outraged.
I really hope you're not a lawyer
No, it wasn't a judge just randomly giving her a ton of money. A jury that had heard the entire case and that judged she was a victim of racial harassment also judged the harassment was severe enough to warrant punitive damages. Here's the actual jury verdict:
Oh, and the judge in the case? William G. Young was appointed by St. Ronnie himself, so he's not one of them there libruls you're probably all antsy about. But, yes, anybody who reads about this case should be outraged - at MBTA officials who did nothing to stop her harassment and firing and cost taxpayers and riders $2.6 million plus interest.
Way to blame the victim
Nice job.
Loosing a home costs less
A person can loose their home due to the recklessness of a company's employees and yet at best get only the maximum of the insurance. If the insurance is 1 million then that's the cap. But an act of discrimination merits over 2 million ultimately charged to people who were not involved: the riders? The discrimination was wrong but the people who pay out are not an insurance company, not a rich person, but the public that needs the T.
Let the individuals who caused the harm pay; but do not force an unreasonable burden, and underserved punishment, upon a pubic that had nothing to do with this.
But why did this happen in the first place? The MBTA employs people of all skin colors. What happened in this specific situation?
The MBTA is to blame
They failed to stop this, and they knew about it due to a ruling in an earlier complaint.
Too easy to devolve it to individuals - this is an organizational failure.
Did any supervisors loose their job?
Will anyone loose their job for ignoring the beatings of the homeless at North Station?
Nah, their positions remiain tight, firmly in place.
maybe some will LOSE their jobs though.