Third trial provides the Rite Aid for terminated employee

It’s a bad result when an employer is ordered to pay several million dollars to a terminated employee. But having to try the case three times—and still have to pay a multimillion-dollar verdict—is a worse result yet, as the Rite Aid Corp. found in a recent court battle.

Jury’s first verdict too unclear

Maria Martinez was an employee of the Rite Aid Corp. In 2008, she sued the employer and her supervisor, Kien Chau, claiming she was terminated because of her age and disability, because she requested a medical leave of absence, and because she filed a sexual harassment complaint. She claimed the termination violated public policy and her employer and supervisor intentionally inflicted emotional distress and invaded her privacy.

After a four-week trial in 2010, the jury returned a special verdict in Martinez’s favor and awarded her $3.4 million in compensatory damages and $4.8 million in punitive damages.

Rite Aid and Chau appealed. The appellate court found sufficient evidence supported the verdicts on Martinez’s claims for wrongful termination in violation of public policy and intentional infliction of emotional distress but not the invasion-of-privacy claim. It also found the compensatory damages verdicts were impermissibly ambiguous and the punitive damages verdict wasn’t supported by sufficient evidence to impose employer liability.

The appellate court reversed the judgment and sent the matter back for a new trial on compensatory damages for the wrongful termination and intentional infliction of emotional distress claims.