Ernie Haire Ford, Inc. v. Benjamin Atkinson, 2011 Fla. App. LEXIS 579, 36 Fla. L. Weekly D 222 (2nd DCA, Jan. 28, 2011)

Jury's verdict assigns value of emotional damages caused by age discrimination.

Recently, Florida's Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit provided further guidance for determining the range for an appropriate compensatory damage award for victims of employment discrimination who are claiming non-specific, non-treated emotional injuries. In this case, the Court of Appeals followed City of Hollywood v. Hogan, 986 So.2d 234 (Fla. 4th DCA 2008) and reiterated that in a "typical" age discrimination case, where a plaintiff experiences no physical injury and presents no medical or psychological evidence of emotional pain and suffering, non-economic damages should not exceed the $5,000 to $30,000 range. In Atkinson the jury awarded $3.5 million for non-economic pain and suffering attributed to emotional injuries. The Court of Appeals reversed the trial court’s order denying the employer’s motion for remitter and ordered the trial court to conduct further proceedings consistent with the court’s opinion.

Case Law Alert - 2nd Qtr 2011