In November 2019, a federal court in Missouri upheld the jury verdict in favor of employee Linda King, who claimed that she was wrongfully discharged from her job with Southwest Foodservice Excellence, LLC.
The matter was originally tried by a jury who returned a verdict in King's favor and awarded her $156,500 in actual damages and $75,000 in punitive damages. The defendant - Southwest Foodservice - renewed its motion for judgment as a matter of law and requested a new trial, which was denied. The employer’s contention that her recovery for emotional distress damages was barred by the state’s workers’ compensation law, was also rejected.
Whilst employed by Southwest Foodservice, Ms. King had been summoned by the Circuit Court of St. Louis City to undertake grand jury service. After being selected as a grand juror, she informed her employer of the days she was required to serve. Jury service - under Missouri law - was a protected status subject to non-discrimination protections and the defendant was aware of this.
Shortly after Ms. King began her jury service in early August 2014, she was informed by an HR representative that she would have to choose between her job and her jury duty.
On August 21, Ms. King's immediate supervisor issued a disciplinary notice for her failure to perform a specific job on August 14 - a day the supervisor was aware that Ms. King was serving on the grand jury. This supervisor wished to terminate Ms. King for this incident but the request was denied by the food director.
Ms. King’s supervisor then began to keep a detailed list of food deficiencies that occurred during the period of Ms. King's jury service. She did not, however, counsel Ms. King regarding these deficiencies - nor did she attempt to address any misconceptions regarding who had food-ordering responsibilities, as both Ms. King and a co-worker were subsequently found to be under the impression that the supervisor was equally responsible. The supervisor also complained that Ms. King's absence from the school during jury duty caused her to spend too much time at Ms. King's school, resulting in the other schools she supervised possibly being neglected.
On October 15, the supervisor - with the assistance of HR - prepared Ms. King's termination notice and this was then presented to the food director, together with the prepared list showing the food-deficiencies. The director signed the termination notice - without verifying who was responsible for placing the food orders - and Ms. King was given the notice on October 20. It was at this time that Ms. KIing found out that she was being held solely responsible for placing the food orders during her jury service, which completed in November 2014.
The District Judge, Catherine D. Perry stated - that from the evidence presented - “a reasonable juror could conclude that King's service on the grand jury was a contributing factor in defendant's termination of her employment, and that King showed with convincing clarity that such wrongful termination was, at the very least, in reckless disregard for her rights and interests, especially given defendant's knowledge that jury service is a protected status. Accordingly, given the evidentiary support for the jury's verdict, I must deny defendant's renewed motion for judgment as a matter of law on the bases claimed. I will also deny defendant's related request that I vacate that portion of the jury's verdict awarding King punitive damages.”
