Meriola Z. Gotthardt v. Amtrak
Published: Dec. 20, 1997 | Result Date: Nov. 19, 1997 | Filing Date: Jan. 1, 1900 |Case number: C952416JSB – $1,027,940
Judge
Court
USDC Northern
Attorneys
Plaintiff
Felicia C. Curran
(Law Office of Felicia C. Curran)
Howard Moore Jr.
(Moore & Moore)
Defendant
Experts
Plaintiff
Jeanne Rivoire
(medical)
Defendant
Michel R. Mandel
(medical)
Facts
Plaintiff, Meriola Z. Gotthardt, a 58-year-old female locomotive engineer, was employed by defendant Amtrak at its Oakland crew base. In 1990, she was promoted to locomotive engineer with Amtrak after 10 years as an Assistant Engineer with Santa Fe Railroad. As a prerequisite to assignment on various routes, Amtrak engineers had to pass "check rides" administered by a road foreman of engines. The road foreman, a woman, repeatedly flunked plaintiff on various road tests and allegedly told her that men engineers could be "so so" and still pass, but that women "need to be 100 percent." Plaintiff alleged that during these road tests, the road foreman would be present in the cab of the engine with plaintiff and other men engineers where they would engage in vulgar and explicit sexual language. Plaintiff alleged the road foreman would crowd the cab of the engine with observers while plaintiff was trying to concentrate on taking the test. The road foreman was later fired but, plaintiff alleged Amtrak continued to harass plaintiff by relegating her to a midnight shift assignment in the Oakland yard, subjecting her to slurs directed to her as a woman and forcing her to work under unsafe conditions. In March 1995, plaintiff went on medical leave, diagnosed by her psychologist as having post-traumatic stress syndrome from years of harassment. The plaintiff brought this action against defendant based on hostile work environment, gender discrimination in violation of Title VII and retaliation theories of recovery.
Settlement Discussions
Settlement discussions were not disclosed.
Damages
The plaintiff claimed emotional distress and the loss of past and future wages.
Other Information
The verdict was reached approximately two years and four months after the case was filed. A two-day court mediation was held but it failed to resolve the matter. The jury found for plaintiff on the hostile work environment claim based on sex, but against her on her claims of sex discrimination. The jury awarded $350,000 in compensatory damages (reduced by the judge to $300,000 because of Title VII's cap on compensatory damages). Per plaintiff, after the jury found defendant had created a hostile work environment, defendant asked the judge to reinstate plaintiff to her old job rather than award lost future wages. The judge then heard evidence on plaintiff's motion for equitable relief (lost past and future wages). After having the matter under submission for several months, the judge awarded $727,938.83 in lost past and future wages, finding that reinstatement of plaintiff was not an option.
Deliberation
six hours
Poll
unanimous
Length
two weeks
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