Throgmorton v. Reynolds

**Employment Dispute at Law Firm Results in Mixed Victory** This case involved a dispute between an employee and the law firm Dumbaugh & Childers, P.C. The employee, Throgmorton, sued the firm claiming they broke their contract and provided poor legal services that caused both financial harm and emotional distress. A jury initially awarded Throgmorton $752,000 total - $700,000 for emotional distress and $52,000 for economic losses. However, the case went through appeals that changed the final outcome significantly. The court upheld the right to collect emotional distress damages in legal malpractice cases, but dramatically reduced the emotional distress award from $700,000 to just $5,000. The economic damages of $52,000 were maintained. **What this means for workers:** This case shows that employees can potentially recover both financial losses and emotional distress damages when suing their employers for legal malpractice or contract violations. However, courts may significantly reduce large emotional distress awards if they seem excessive. Workers should understand that while emotional distress claims are possible, the amounts awarded may be much smaller than initially granted by juries. The case also demonstrates that employment disputes can go through multiple rounds of appeals, potentially changing the final outcome.