Facts

Plaintiff Nimachia Hernandez was a University of California, Berkeley, assistant professor in the ethnic studies department. Hernandez alleged that she was injured and left disabled after an assault and then a car accident in July 2003. After a "mid-career review," she was terminated in August 2006. She sued the university claiming discrimination.

PLAINTIFF'S CONTENTIONS:
Nimachia Hernandez was raised on the Blackfoot Reservation in Montana and was educated at Princeton, Harvard, and Georgetown universities before being hired as a tenure track assistant professor in the Native American Studies program in the Ethnic Studies Department at the University of California in July 2000. She was one of three assistant professors hired in the Native American Studies program to reinvigorate it following a student strike against the neglect of ethnic studies at the university. By spring 2003, the other two new Native American Studies faculty had left Berkeley. Dr. Hernandez was injured when she was slapped in the eye by a taxi driver in December 2001 and again in a traffic accident in July 2003. The university adopted a skeptical approach towards her injuries and placed innumerable obstacles in the way of her efforts to obtain reasonable accommodations for them. It treated her as a racial problem rather than as an injured person who needed assistance. Dr. Hernandez was competently performing the responsibilities of her position in light of her disabilities. She was uniformly regarded as an excellent teacher, and had succeeded in obtaining a contract for the publication of her book from the leading publisher of works by and about Native Americans. She had been unable to complete her book or other writing projects because she was unable to use a computer key board for longer than 15-20 minutes at a time and the university failed to provide her with the voice activated software and ergonomic furniture that she needed to be productive as a scholar. Although the university was aware of her physical limitations and what it would take to accommodate them, it forced her to undergo a "mid-career appraisal" in spring 2005, and predictably concluded that she had failed to complete sufficient scholarly writing to justify a positive appraisal of her eventual promotion to tenure, and fired her effective summer 2006. Ironically, the university finally provided her with the accommodations she needed after it decided to terminate her employment.

DEFENDANT'S CONTENTIONS:
The defendant claimed it provided plaintiff with numerous accommodations and equipment. Additional time was also given for her to complete work. The defendant gave her more paid leave than other faculty members. The defense alleged that plaintiff would not have received tenure because of her lack of pre-disability scholarly achievement.

Settlement Discussions

The plaintiff demanded $3.8 million. The defendant offered $300,000 and attorney fees by C.C.P. Section 998 offer.

Damages

Plaintiff sought loss earnings and pain and suffering damages.

Injuries

The plaintiff claimed emotional distress.

Result

The jury found that defendant failed to engage in an interactive process with plaintiff to accommodate her and that it retaliated against her demands for reasonable accommodations. The university was found not to have discriminated against plaintiff or to have failed to accommodate her. The jury awarded plaintiff $176,347 in lost earnings and $90,000 for emotional distress for a total of $266,347. The defense is claiming $140,000 in costs for failure to accept the more favorable C.C.P. Section offer, according to defense counsel.

Deliberation

three days

Length

16 days