8th Circuit Upholds Compensatory, Rejects Punitive, Damages In Title VII Case

In Sturgill v. United Parcel Service, Inc., (8th Cir., Jan. 15, 2008), the U.S. 8th Circuit Court of Appeals upheld an award of compensatory damages, but reversed an award of punitive damages, in a Title VII case in which a Seventh Day Adventist employee was fired by United Parcel Service for refusing to deliver the remaining packages in his truck after sundown on Friday. The Court found that it was not shown that UPS acted with malice or reckless indifference. The Court of Appeals agreed with the district court that a reasonable jury might find that UPS could have accommodated Sturgill's religious practice without violating its collective bargaining agreement and without undue hardship to business operations. The court held that the district court's jury instruction saying that reasonable accommodation must completely eliminate the employee's religious conflict was erroneous, but was not reversible error. The Morning News of Northwest Arkansas reports on the decision.