Facts

Plaintiff Alejandro Gonzalez worked as a flight coordinator/supervisor of baggage handlers at Swissport's LAX operations. After suffering from an aortic aneurysm at work, Plaintiff was rushed to the hospital for emergency surgery. Plaintiff took four months off from work to recover from the surgery and eventually was released back to work with a 15-pound weight restriction. Upon his return to work, Plaintiff claimed that Swissport terminated his employment due to his disability. Swissport claimed that Plaintiff resigned upon returning to work.

PLAINTIFF'S CONTENTIONS: Plaintiff contended that when Defendant learned of this restriction, the company terminated him without attempting to reasonably accommodate his restrictions. Plaintiff also claimed that Defendant failed to engage in the interactive process and further failed to reasonably prevent discrimination against him.

DEFENDANT'S CONTENTIONS: Defendant contended that Plaintiff was never terminated from his position and that instead, he quit. Defendant also contended that it could not reasonably accommodate his restriction.

Result

The jury returned a verdict in favor of Plaintiff and awarded him $1,050,000 in damages which comprised of $250,000 in past non-economic damages and $800,000 in future non-economic damages.

Other Information

The court granted Defendant's motion for a new trial on damages, setting aside the jury's verdict as to damages.

Deliberation

5 hours

Poll

9-3

Length

6 days