Wednesday, January 26, 2000
Fired Rumpke driver gets $500,000
Jury finds him to be victim of age discrimination
BY BEN L. KAUFMAN
The Cincinnati Enquirer
Sensing an injustice in employment practices at Rumpke Container Services in Springdale, Hamilton County Common Pleas jurors awarded $500,000 to a former driver who said he was a victim of age discrimination.
Driver Michael D. Pelletier, 50, of West Union, Ohio, was fired in 1996 and replaced by a worker under 40. He said that violated state age discrimination law.
On Friday, the six jurors gave him $210,000 compensatory damages but subtracted $60,000 he earned at various jobs since leaving Rumpke.
Then jurors awarded Mr. Pelletier $350,000 punitive damages because Rumpke had “acted with actual malice.”
Employment law specialist Paul H. Tobias said that amount was not excessive when a victim evokes a “great sense of injustice.... People are fed up with abusive treatment in the workplace.”
Mr. Pelletier had worked for Rumpke for about 20 years when he was fired. Since then, he said on Tuesday, he has been unable to get any job that pays nearly as well and is working in a factory.
Rumpke also was ordered to pay fees and expenses for winning attorneys Kelly Mulloy Myers and Randolph H. Freking when they submit time sheets and expense accounts.
Rumpke attorney Paul Dorger called the punitive award “a complete surprise.” After the verdict, jurors said they “didn't like Rumpke's business practices,” he said.
Mr. Pelletier was a veteran employee with a good record who was fired after he violated Rumpke's “three-day no-call no-show” rule, Mr. Dorger said. That was too severe for a first offense, jurors told Mr. Dorger.
Mr. Pelletier said he thought he was taking approved vacation. Alerted to the misunderstanding, he came in the next day but was fired.
Rumpke will appeal the verdict and awards, Mr. Dorger said.
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