Cynthia Haddad vs. Wal-Mart Stores, Inc.
Case Details
- Citation
- 455 Mass. 91
- Procedural Posture — the stage the case had reached
- appeal
- State
- Massachusetts
- Circuit
- 1st Circuit
Related Laws
No specific laws identified for this ruling.
Claim Types
Outcome
Plaintiff Cynthia Haddad prevailed on her gender discrimination claim for unequal compensation and termination of employment. The court affirmed the jury's award of $972,774 in compensatory damages (front pay) and reinstated $1 million in punitive damages that had been vacated by the trial judge, finding sufficient evidence of discriminatory animus and reprehensible conduct.
Excerpt
Cynthia Haddad vs. Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. (No. 1). Berkshire. February 5, 2009. October 5, 2009. Present: Marshall, C.J., Ireland, Spina, Cowin, Cordy, Botsford, & Gants, JJ. Anti-Discrimination Law, Employment, Sex, Termination of employment, Damages. Employment, Discrimination, Termination. Damages, Under anti-discrimination law, Punitive, Remittitur, Future earning capacity. Evidence, Relevancy and materiality. Practice, Civil, Argument by counsel, Instructions to jury. At the trial of a civil complaint alleging unequal compensation and termination of employment based on gender, the evidence was sufficient to permit the jury to find that the defendant employer had acted with a discriminatory animus in terminating the plaintiff’s employment as a pharmacy manager (i.e., that the defendant’s stated reasons for the plaintiff’s termination were false and that similarly situated male pharmacists were treated differently than the plaintiff for similar infractions of the defendant’s policies), that the plaintiff’s base pay was significantly less per hour than all the male pharmacy managers in the region, and that despite the plaintiff’s repeated requests for the additional hourly pay and a bonus that the male pharmacy managers received, the defendant denied the plaintiff the bonus until just before her termination. [97-101] At the trial of a civil complaint alleging unequal compensation and termination of employment based on gender, the award to the plaintiff employee of nineteen years’ front pay was neither excessive nor speculative, where the judge properly instructed the jury as to the relevant principles to consider; where the plaintiff testified to her difficulty in obtaining a new position; where expert testimony established, based on evidence presented at trial, the plaintiff’s loss of income due to the defendant’s discrimination, discounted to present value; and where the award was consistent with the plaintiff’s anticipated retirement age. [102-106] In a civil action alleging unequal compensation and termination of employment based on gender, the judge erred in granting the defendant employer’s motion for judgment notwithstanding the verdict on the jury’s award of punitive damages, where the plaintiff was not required to demonstrate that the defendant had acted with knowledge that its conduct violated the terms of the gender discrimination statute; where, from evidence that the defendant had policies prohibiting harassment, the jury could infer that the defendant was aware that gender discrimination was not legally permitted; where there was sufficient evidence of the defendant’s reprehensible or recklessly indifferent conduct to support the award of punitive damages; and where the award was not excessive. [106-110] Discussion of the new standard, in an action alleging discrimination in employment, for determining whether an employer’s conduct was so outrageous or egregious that punitive damages are warranted. [110-111] At the trial of a civil complaint alleging discrimination in employment, the judge did not err in admitting evidence that was relevant to a determination of pretext [111-112]; moreover, an improper remark made during the plaintiffs closing argument was not likely to have altered the outcome of the case [112]; further, the plaintiff produced sufficient evidence to justify a mixed motive instruction, and error arising from the judge’s failure to make clear what the plaintiffs burden was before the burden shifted to the defendant was harmless in the circumstances [112-115], Give, action commenced in the Superior Court Department on September 9, 2005. The case was tried before John A. Agostini, J., and a motion for judgment notwithstanding the verdict or, in the alternative, for a new trial or remittitur was heard by him. The Supreme Judicial Court granted an application for direct appellate review. Robert S. Mantell (Richard E. Fradette, of New Hampshire, & David E. Belfort with him) for the plaintiff. David C. Casey (Stephen T. Melnick with him) for the defendant. Jo Ann Shotwell Kaplan, Martin J. Newhouse, & John R. Pagliaro, for New England Legal Foundation & another, amici curiae, submitted a brief. Patricia A. Washienko, for Jewish Alliance for Law and Social Action & others, amici curiae, submitted a brief. Cowin, J. The plaintiff filed a complaint in the Superior Court against Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. (Wal-Mart), alleging unequal compensation and termination of employment based on gender in violation of G. L. c. 151B, § 4 (1). The complaint also included claims for defamation. Following a jury trial, Wal-Mart was found liable on the G. L. c. 151B, § 4 (1), claim, and the plaintiff was awarded $972,774 in compensatory damages and $1 million in punitive damages. Wal-Mart moved for judgment notwithstanding the verdict or, in the alternative, for remittitur or a new trial. The motion judge, who was also the trial judge, vacated the award of punitive damages but otherwise denied the motion. The parties cross-appealed; we granted the plaintiff’s motion for direct appellate review. On appeal, Wal-Mart claims that the judge erred in denying its motion for judgment notwithstanding the verdict as to the gender discrimination claim, and in declining to reduce the front pay award. Wal-Mart asserts also that a new trial is required because of the improper admission of certain evidence, misconduct in the plaintiff s closing argument, and errors concerning two jury instructions. In her cross appeal, the plaintiff claims that the judge erred in allowing Wal-Mart’s motion for judgment notwithstanding the verdict with respect to punitive damages. We conclude that there was sufficient evidence for the jury to find that Wal-Mart’s proffered motive for the plaintiff’s termination was a pretext, and consequently that Wal-Mart acted with a discriminatory animus. We conclude also that there was sufficient evidence to support the jury’s award of front pay damages. None of Wal-Mart’s claims regarding the trial convince us that the judge was wrong in denying the defendant’s motion on the basis of the asserted errors in the trial proceedings. Accordingly, we affirm the judge’s decision denying the defendant’s motion for judgment notwithstanding the verdict on the liability and front pay claims. We do, however, conclude that the judge erred in regard to the punitive damages award. He determined incorrectly that the jury were not warranted in finding intentional and outrageous conduct (a precondition for punitive damages). His decision is also confusing because it suggests, at least in part, and contrary to his proper instruction to the jury, that punitive damages could not be awarded unless it was proved that Wal-Mart acted with the specific knowledge that it was deliberately violating the anti-discrimination statute, G. L. c. 151B. We therefore vacate the judge’s order and reinstate the jury’s award of punitive damages. The plaintiff argues also that our standard for awarding punitive damages should be modified so that a showing of intentional discrimination alone suffices for an award of punitive damages. While we decline the plaintiffs invitation to modify the standard in this respect, we take this opportunity to set forth a new standard in language that more clearly describes the considerations necessary for an award of punitive damages in the specific context of a discrimination claim. 1. Factual background. Because Wal-Mart alleges that the evidence was insufficient, we summarize the evidence in the light most favorable to the plaintiff., The plaintiff, Cynthia Haddad, worked as a pharmacist at Wal-Mart for ten years, seven of those in Wal-Mart’s Pittsfield store. Pursuant to Massachusetts law and regulation, every pharmacy must have a “manager of record.” The manager of record, who must be a registered pharmacist, is responsible for complying with State and Federal reporting requirements and supervising the pharmacy staff. A registered pharmacist must be on duty during a pharmacy’s hours of operation. See, e.g., G. L. c. 112, §§ 24, 39; 247 Code Mass. Regs. §§ 6.01, 6.02, 6.07 (2005). During the period at issue, Wal-Mart employed one pharmacist at its Pittsfield store, who was designated the “pharmacy manager,” to serve as the “manager of record.” A staff pharmacist generally worked under the pharmacy manager, and several pharmacy technicians (who are not registered pharmacists) assisted the staff pharmacist. At times, only one pharmacist would be on duty. In addition to their hourly wages as pharmacists, pharmacy managers received an additional hourly stipend as well as an annual bonus. For most of the plaintiff’s tenure at Wal-Mart, she served as staff pharmacist; she received consistently excellent evaluations. In March, 2003, the plaintiff accepted the position of pharmacy manager on a temporary basis.* At that time, and until her termination thirteen months later, the plaintiff was paid at an hourly rate considerably lower than any male pharmacy manager in the Pittsfield region. In addition, although she was told that she would receive the additional hourly pay that Wal-Mart paid all pharmacy managers, she did not receive this differential. After numerous complaints, on April 9, 2004, she finally received a check for the pharmacy manager bonus that others received in February, but she never received the thirteen months’ worth of additional hourly pay. On April 14, 2004, Wal-Mart district manager David Hogan and two other Wal-Mart managers met with the plaintiff at the Pittsfield store. They questioned her about two prescriptions that had been fraudulently written and filled by pharmacy technician Kristin Baran. One of the prescriptions had been written in October, 2002, while the plaintiff was on duty, and one was written on March 20, 2004, while a male pharmacist, Richard Blackbird, was on duty. Baran admitted, immediately after the meeting between the Wal-Mart supervisors and the plaintiff, that she falsified the October, 2002, prescription. The plaintiff denied any knowledge of the fraudulent prescriptions, but told Hogan that the first one could have been written when she briefly left the pharmacy area to purchase a soda at a nearby counter; when she was in the restroom; when she was in the front of the pharmacy talking to customers; or when she was in the back of the pharmacy eating lunch or counting narcotics. The plaintiff’s employment was terminated that same day. She was told that the reason for her termination was based on her statement during the interview that she “fail[ed] to secure the pharmacy” because, in violation of an unspecified Wal-Mart policy, she had briefly left the pharmacy area unsecured, leaving Baran unattended in the pharmacy area. Baran’s employment was also terminated the same day. The more recent fraudulent prescription contained Blackbird’s initials. Neither Blackbird, who was on duty when the second fraudulent prescription was written, nor any other pharmacist was questioned about or disciplined for it. Indeed, Blackbird was appointed to be pharmacy manager at the time of the plaintiff’s departure. Blackbird testified that he commonly left the pharmacy area unsecured to talk to a customer in the over-the-counter area, to go to the restroom, or to get a snack; he was unaware of any policy prohibiting this practice and was never disciplined for doing so. Other testimony at trial indicated that it was common practice for pharmacists to leave the pharmacy area briefly unsecured and go to other areas of the store during their shifts. Copies of Wal-Mart’s written policy regarding lunch breaks, effective in October of 2002 and introduced in evidence, indicated that it was optional whether a pharmacy manager closed and locked the pharmacy during lunch breaks. There was also evidence that this policy later changed several times. Wal-Mart employees gave inconsistent reasons for the plaintiff’s termination and were also inconsistent regarding who was responsible for the decision. Answers to interrogatories, submitted by Hogan on his own behalf and on behalf of Wal-Mart, were introduced at trial. In these answers, Hogan stated, contrary to his trial testimony, that the plaintiff’s employment was terminated because she had not properly monitored store charge accounts and had allowed a technician to maintain a charge account. Hogan testified that he told the store manager that the plaintiff was terminated for allowing controlled drug losses. Another district manager told Blackbird that the plaintiff was terminated because of discrepancies in the controlled drug inventory. In addition, Hogan testified on direct examination that he made the decision to fire the plaintiff for her failure to secure the pharmacy; however, on cross-examination, after being shown his answers to interrogatories, Hogan testified that he had been “instmct[ed]” to fire the plaintiff by his supervisor, the regional manager, and that he was told to give the reason as “gross misconduct.” Moreover, the plaintiff’s “exit interview” forms, signed by three Wal-Mart managers, were dated April 13, 2004, the day before the termination, and indicated the reason for the plaintiff’s termination as “gross misconduct . . . misappropriation.” Another explanation offered for the plaintiff’s termination was that she gave pharmacy technicians her computer sign-on codes. According to the record in this case, at the time of the plaintiff’s termination, in the geographic district containing the Pitts-field store, twenty of the twenty-one managers above the pharmacy manager level at Wal-Mart were male, and all the pharmacy technicians were female. Only two of the pharmacy managers of the fifteen stores in the district were females. 2. Sufficiency of the evidence. Wal-Mart argues that the judge erred in denying its motion for judgment notwithstanding the verdict, Mass. R. Civ. P. 50 (b), as amended, 428 Mass. 1402 (1998), on the discrimination claim because there was “no evidence” to support a finding of discriminatory animus. There was no error. The evidence was sufficient for the jury to find that Wal-Mart acted with a discriminatory animus in terminating the plaintiff’s employment. Wal-Mart does not dispute that the plaintiff met her burden of establishing all the elements in the first stage of the three-stage McDonnell Douglas analysis. See McDonnell Douglas Corp. v. Green, 411 U.S. 792, 802 (1973); Abramian v. President & Fellows of Harvard College, 432 Mass. 107, 118 (2000). Wal-Mart offered several facially valid reasons for the plaintiff’s termination. Therefore, if the jury were warranted in concluding that at least one of the proffered reasons for the plaintiff’s termination was a pretext, that alone would constitute sufficient evidence to support an inference that Wal-Mart acted with a discriminatory animus. See Lipchitz v. Raytheon Co., 434 Mass. 493, 499-502, 504 (2001). There was ample evidence from which a jury could have inferred that Wal-Mart’s stated reasons were pretexts, and consequently that Wal-Mart acted with discriminatory intent. The jury could have decided that all of Wal-Mart’s proffered reasons for terminating the plaintiff’s employment were false. Hogan testified to one reason: that the plaintiff had failed to secure the pharmacy area, that is, that she left the area to get a soda, leaving only a technician present. The jury could have concluded that this statement was false for several reasons. First, Wal-Mart employees, including Hogan, had previously given a variety of conflicting reasons for the termination. Additionally, the incident had occurred eighteen months prior to the termination. Furthermore, there was testimony that male pharmacists routinely left the pharmacy to purchase food or beverages in the store or to assist customers. The jury could also have determined that the reason initially checked on the exit interview form — “gross misconduct . . . misappropriation” — was false because there was no evidence or even any allegation that the plaintiff misappropriated assets. In addition, Hogan testified that the decision to fire the plaintiff was made at her April 14, 2004, interview, after she stated that she might have left the pharmacy area, possibly to get a soda. The jury could have concluded, moreover, that the plaintiff’s termination had been planned in advance of her interview. Her termination notice was originally dated on the day before the interview, and Hogan testified further that he told the regional manager, the day before the plaintiff’s termination, that he intended to interview and then terminate the plaintiff on the following day. Moreover, the jury could have rejected Hogan’s statement that the plaintiff was fired for allowing a technician to maintain a charge account, well before the termination, because there was testimony that male pharmacists were unaware of any policy prohibiting such accounts, there was no evidence that any other pharmacist had been disciplined for allowing the account to remain open, and there was evidence that the plaintiff had closed the account on the day she was told to do so by a Wal-Mart manager. Lastly, the jury could have chosen not to credit Hogan’s statement that the plaintiff was fired because she disclosed her computer sign-on code to a technician. The plaintiff testified that she had never disclosed her password to anyone, and a number of Wal-Mart employees testified that it was routine practice for pharmacists to log onto the computer in the morning and to stay logged on all day, so that a technician could easily use the pharmacist’s computer account. In addition, there was substantial evidence that the jury could have credited that similarly situated male pharmacists were treated differently than the plaintiff for similar infractions of Wal-Mart policy. See Trustees of Health & Hosps. of Boston, Inc. v. Massachusetts Comm’n Against Discrimination, 449 Mass. 675, 683-686 (2007) (similarly situated comparator is usually most probative means of proving adverse action was taken for discriminatory reasons). As stated, there was evidence that male pharmacists routinely left the pharmacy area unsecured in order to purchase snacks or drinks, and that no other pharmacist had been terminated for such a reason. There was also evidence that the policy on lunch breaks did not mandate that a pharmacist secure the pharmacy before leaving the pharmacy area. The then-effective policy stated that a pharmacist “may” close and lock the pharmacy if only one pharmacist was on duty and was going on a meal break, and that the pharmacist “may” leave the pharmacy area, but should not leave the building. In circumstances virtually identical to the incident for which the plaintiff was purportedly terminated, a male pharmacist was neither questioned about nor disciplined for the second fraudulent prescription filled by Baran, even though his initials were on the prescription, he was on duty at the time it was filled, the prescription appeared suspicious on its face, and the incident had occurred only a few weeks, rather than eighteen months, before the plaintiff’s termination. Indeed, the evidence indicated that the investigation of the second fraudulent prescription was limited to questioning the plaintiff about it and thereafter asking Baran whether she had written it. There was evidence of other incidents in which male pharmacists were not disciplined for far more serious infractions of Wal-Mart policies, or even for actions that violated State and Federal law. For instance, a videotape from a surveillance camera showed Baran placing drugs in her purse while the male pharmacist on duty, Hershel Patel, was standing near her; Wal-Mart policy prohibited bringing purses into the pharmacy area. Patel, who remained employed by Wal-Mart at the time of trial, testified that he was not questioned or disciplined about the incident. In August, 2003, Wal-Mart discovered that another
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