Thursday, July 22, 1999
Man wins in Jenny Craig discrimination suit
Jury awards $300,000 to former employee
BY EARNEST WINSTON
The Cincinnati Enquirer
A federal jury Wednesday ordered Jenny Craig Weight Loss Centres to pay nearly $300,000 to a Mason man for sexually discriminating against him when the company failed to transfer him to another post after his position was eliminated.
But the five-woman, two-man jury, in U.S. District Court, rejected Donald Carr's claims that his age, then 60, was a determining factor.
Mr. Carr worked at Jenny Craig's seven Greater Cincinnati stores from 1993-96. For most of his career, he was a center director or store manager. In 1996, when his position was eliminated at the company's Tri-County store, he asked to remain with the company in a sales capacity. Instead, the company hired younger women for the sales positions, said his Cincinnati attorney, Stephen Imm.
“It's very unusual to see a sex discrimination verdict in favor of a male employee,” Mr. Imm said. “I think the odds were definitely against him. I felt it was a tough case to sell to the jury,” he said.
Mr. Imm said more than 90 percent of sex discrimination suits are filed by women.
Mr. Carr, now 63, was awarded $75,000 in compensatory damages, $200,000 in punitive damages and $23,100 for back pay and benefits in the trial. Mr. Imm said when his client was employed at Jenny Craig's Greater Cincinnati stores, he was one of two male employees, out of about 40.
“He was thrilled. It was a better outcome than he expected,” Mr. Imm said. “He wasn't aware that the jury might award him this much in damages.”
Officials at Jenny Craig could not be reached for comment.
Judge Herman Weber presided over the trial, which lasted about one week.
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