Cap Reduces $1.85M Jury Award in Maryland Discrimination Suit

A Salisbury, Maryland woman who was awarded $1.85 million after she was fired by a pesticide company will see only $300,000 of that.

That’s because of a limit on damages in federal employment discrimination cases.

A jury found in favor of Jean Scott, who alleged that Syngenta Crop Protection Inc., a Greensboro, N.C.-based division of the global agribusiness, fired her in 2005 for complaining about gender discrimination.

Title VII, the law under which Scott sued, permits just $300,000 in combined non-economic and punitive damages. The jury awarded Scott $500,000 for emotional distress and the rest in punitive damages.

Chief U.S. District Judge Benson E. Legg has not scheduled a bench hearing on Scott’s economic damages. Economic damages are not subject to the limit.

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Information from: The (Baltimore) Daily Record