Court Finds Sufficient Evidence of Retaliation to Uphold Jury Verdict
PICKETT v. SHERIDAN HEALTH CARE CENTER (June 25, 2010)
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Danielle Pickett was employed as a housekeeper at the Sheridan Health Care Center in Zion, Illinois. In 2005 and 2006, she was the victim of several incidences of inappropriate remarks and touching by nursing home residents. Although the Center responded to her complaints, the promised response never quite succeeded. In a June 2006 meeting with several Center staff members, the Center agreed to reassign Pickett from cleaning residents' rooms, although, according to Pickett, the Center's VP of Operations suggested that Pickett invited the inappropriate conduct. The next morning, Pickett had a very emotional conversation with the Center's Administrator. According to Pickett, the Administrator said some things that indicated that her job may be in jeopardy. The meeting ended with Pickett still upset and in tears. Instead of resuming her assigned tasks, she left the Center. She called the Administrator the next day to ask if she still was employed. He consulted with the VP of Operations and advised Pickett that she no longer had a job. Beginning about a month later, after Picket filed an EEOC claim, the Center offered on several occasions to reinstate Pickett. She refused several such offers but eventually returned to the Center in January of 2007. She brought suit against the Center for sexual harassment and for retaliatory firing under Title VII. Judge Pallmeyer (N.D. Ill) granted summary judgment to the Center on the harassment claim. The retaliation claim went to trial. The jury found for Pickett and awarded $15,000 in compensatory and $50,000 in punitive damages. The court awarded back pay and injunctive relief. The Center appeals.
In their opinion, Judges Flaum, Kanne, and Evans affirmed. The Court first rejected the Center's argument that Pickett could not prevail on the retaliation claim because she could not prevail on the harassment claim. In order to prevail on retaliation, a plaintiff need only show statutorily protected conduct, adverse action, and a causal link. The Court found that there was sufficient evidence of each of those elements in the record -- the jury was entitled to find in Pickett's favor. Each of the Center's other arguments was also rejected: a) counsel’s "send some message" language in closing argument was not improper, b) the compensatory damage award was not excessive and did not require corroborating evidence from a third party, and c) the court did not abuse its discretion in allowing the punitive award to stand in light of the evidence that supported a conclusion that the Center knew it might be retaliating when it terminated Pickett's employment.
