A federal judge has weighed in on the $238 million jury verdict won by a former Black United Parcel Service (UPS) worker in September, ruling that $198 million in punitive damages a jury in Yakima, Washington, awarded was unreasonable and not supported by evidence in the case.
U.S. District Judge Thomas Rice allowed the jury’s award for emotional distress to stand, ordering UPS to pay plaintiff Tahvio Gratton $39.6 million.
UPS said it intends to file a motion for a new trial and will seek to overturn the emotional distress damages as well.
Gratton sued UPS in 2022 for racial discrimination and wrongful termination, claiming that he was mistreated in the workplace by racist supervisors and then fired in retaliation for filing several complaints between 2018 and 2021 with his union and the Equal Opportunity Employment Commission (EEOC).
He argued that his termination in 2021 following a sexual harassment investigation into whether he improperly touched a female employee’s back on a loading dock was used as a pretext by managers who had previously discriminated against him.
In the complaint filed in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Washington, Gratton claimed he was frequently “laid off” for the day while white drivers with less seniority were given routes to drive, in violation of union rules. He also said he was given less desirable routes and trucks than other drivers.
A white manager repeatedly referred to him as “Boy,” Gratton alleged. Adding that the manager would yell orders at him saying, “Move faster, Boy, let’s go!” and “I didn’t tell you to talk, boy.” When asked to stop, the manager allegedly said, “I’m from the South. That’s how I talk.”
The allegations were supported by a staffer at a Footlocker store who received deliveries Gratton made that day and witnessed how the manager spoke to Gratton.
Gratton’s complaints to upper management about his immediate supervisors’ demeaning language, punishing route assignments and other unfair treatment were not fully investigated and unjustly dismissed, he claimed.
In his order issued on Nov. 14, Judge Rice did not find that the investigation by UPS into the alleged sexual harassment that led to Gratton’s termination was biased against him by his former supervisors, as Gratton claimed.
Rice noted that a “neutral third party investigator” at UPS who had no prior interaction at the Yakima location where Gratton worked conducted the inquiry, and submitted his report to Karl Leyert, a labor manager assigned to adjudicate union grievances.
The report included testimony from Linda Hernandez, who said that Gratton had grabbed her right hip while she was bent over on the loading dock and said something like, “Hey girl.” She said she felt “disrespected” and “harassed,” and told Gratton, “You touched me inappropriately.”
Jose Castillo, another employee who allegedly witnessed the incident, testified that he “heard Plaintiff say something like, ‘I have got to go one-on-one with you,’” at the time, referring to Hernandez.”
Gratton insisted that he had tripped on the ramp and had put his hands on Cruz’s back to catch his fall, then apologized.
While Gratton’s attorneys argued that Leyert was unduly influenced in his investigation by lower level, racially biased supervisors who had handled Gratton’s previous complaints, the judge found that Leyert “simply did not believe Plaintiff’s version of events. The court cannot find that based on the evidence presented at trial, Leyert harbored malicious or reckless indifference to Plaintiff’s federally protected rights.”
Rice said that Gratton “was able to tell his side of the story, was accompanied by union representation during the interview, and was able to provide witnesses” of his choosing.
Given the evidence presented at trial, Rice said he didn’t find the jury’s decision related to punitive damages “reasonable,” and therefore vacated the jury’s $198 million award.
The judge also denied Gratton’s claim for front and back wages, writing that his attorneys presented no evidence of wage-related damages at trial, and later filed financial information too late to be considered.
Rice ruled that the plaintiff’s claim to be reinstated at UPS was improper since the employee and employer were at odds over the reason for his termination, and also due to “Plaintiff’s current successful barbecue business.”
Rice said because UPS had not challenged the jury’s verdict for emotional distress, he would order judgment for that amount, $39.6 million.
“The district court correctly ruled that the punitive damages award was improper as a matter of law,” said UPS spokesman Glenn Zacarra in an emailed statement to Atlanta Black Star. “UPS will file a separate motion requesting a new trial and asking the Court to overturn the award for emotional distress damages.”
Attorneys for Gratton did not immediately respond to Atlanta Black Star’s requests for comment on the case.
