4th Circuit delivers blow to Title VII punitive damages

In a recent case involving multiple issues—Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, constructive discharge, and state law claims among them—the U.S. 4th Circuit Court of Appeals (which covers South Carolina employers) outlined standards it will use to determine a punitive damages award based on vicarious liability. Many issues were appealed. In the following article, we’re focusing only on the Title VII punitive damages portion of the decision.

Background

The core premise of the case focused on sexual harassment claims at an AutoZone store in North Carolina. Keith Ward and Christina Atkinson were coworkers. Shortly after they started working alongside each other, she began groping him and engaging in sexually explicit language at work. He eventually quit.

Before Ward quit, however, he asked Atkinson to stop her offensive behavior. He also used AutoZone’s harassment policy to complain to a number of individuals with supervisory or management authority over the store.

Ward later sued AutoZone. At trial, jurors rejected his retaliation claim but ruled in his favor on the other remaining claims. They found AutoZone liable for sexual harassment and the intentional infliction of emotional distress (IIED). For the harassment claim, the jury awarded $100,000 in compensatory damages and $600,000 in punitive damages.

4th Circuit’s analysis