Employee Awarded Damages In Religious Discrimination Case

In a Huntsville, Alabama federal court last week, a jury awarded $15,000 in damages for mental anguish and $100,000 in punitive damages to Carolyn Hall, a former office manager in a medical clinic who was fired after she refused to discuss her religious beliefs with the clinic's owner, Dr. Dean Willis. Willis told Hall that he was concerned about her job performance because he did not know where she stood with God. Today's Huntsville Times, reporting on the religious discrimination verdict, says that damages will probably be reduced to $50,000 because of a statutory cap on damages in federal civil rights actions. 42 USC 1981a permits punitive damages in intentional employment discrimination cases, but caps total damages depending on the size of the business involved.