On December 15th, the Supreme Court refused to hear arguments in The Washington Times Corp. vs. Derman, a sex discrimination suit the newspaper lost in lower courts. Last year, a federal jury awarded Julie Berman $47,185 in compensatory damages and $789,185 in punitive damages after finding that the Washington Times had discriminated against the graphic artist in its promotion department. The paper alleged in its appeal that Berman’s lawyer improperly addressed the jury in the closing arguments by alleging that the paper had tried to cover-up the discrimination and deliberately destroyed paperwork. The appeals court upheld the award, stating, “The jury had sufficient evidence before it to support the conclusion that the Times deliberately created intolerable working conditions for Berman, either in retaliation for her internal complaints of harassment or because of her sex.”
Uncategorized
