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July 18, 2002
Harassment Award Cut by over Two-thirds
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The six women who accused former Ralphs manager Roger Misiolek of verbally and physically abusing them while they were working at the suburban San Diego supermarket received the largest sexual-harassment settlement awarded by a jury in U.S. history back in May, 2002.
A lawyer for one of the women told the Union-Tribune that they have not reached a decision on whether to accept the settlement or request a new trial. Although the Kroger Co., parent company of Ralphs, declined to comment, a company lawyer stated that the award resulted from "passion and prejudice."
The foreman of the jury that handed the women the $30.6 million settlement was angered, calling the judge's decision "an outrage," the Union-Tribune reports.
Though the judge agreed with the jury's decision that Misiolek was guilty of sexually harassing the women, he said that the law requires him to reduce the settlement. He referred to Misiolek's actions as "utterly despicable," but ruled that just because Misiolek was working at the store when the harassment occurred, he was not acting on behalf of the company.
The judge's final ruling that the settlement should be reduced to $9 million is based on the fact that Ralphs cannot be held accountable for Misiolek's actions. But the company can be punished for the actions of Misiolek's supervisors, who allowed him to continue to run the store with the knowledge that women had complained about his behavior, the Union-Tribune reports.
The judge also ruled that the original settlement was excessive because it far surpassed any other verdict, as well as any penalties that California's Fair Employment and Housing Commission can exact.
One of the plaintiffs' lawyers accused the judge of "letting Ralphs off the hook," saying that failure to punish the company by setting an example will do nothing to deter the company from allowing similar activities.
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