Opinion ID: 204284
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: The Compensatory Damage Award

Text: Finally, we address the Park District's motion for a new trial on the issue of the amount of the jury's compensatory damages award. The Park District contends that the jury's award of $200,000 in compensatory damages was not reasonably related to any injury that Schandelmeier suffered, so that either the award should be reduced or the case should be remanded for a new trial on damages. Evaluating issues as subjective and elusive as emotional damages is a task we leave in the first instance to the common sense and collective judgment of juries. We defer to their judgment unless the award is monstrously excessive or unless there is no rational connection between the award and the evidence, and we also consider whether the award is comparable to those in similar cases. Marion County Coroner's Office v. Equal Employment Opportunity Comm'n, 612 F.3d 924, 930-31 (7th Cir.2010); Naeem v. McKesson Drug Co., 444 F.3d 593, 611 (7th Cir.2006); Deloughery v. City of Chicago, 422 F.3d 611, 619 (7th Cir.2005). It may be that the monstrously excessive inquiry will be too vague to be of much use and is simply a different way of asking whether there is a rational connection between the award and the evidence. See Harvey v. Office of Banks & Real Estate, 377 F.3d 698, 713-14 (7th Cir.2004). However the test is phrased, we begin our examination there. In defense of the jury's award, Schandelmeier argues that the jury had ample opportunity to view and assess her demeanor and emotional state during the seven hours she spent on the witness stand. The jury heard her describe how Adams screamed at her in front of J.J.'s aunt and reprimanded her for being ignorant of African-American culturea culture that Adams apparently believed was accepting of child abuse. Schandelmeier testified that she had never been yelled at like that in [her] adult life, and the things Adams said were profoundly disturbing because Schandelmeier had work[ed] in the field of racial justice and never dreamt that [she would] be in an environment where [she] would be so prejudiced against. Upon being terminated, Schandelmeier felt disturbed, devastated and upset because she could not support her family. She also testified that witnessing the J.J. incident was a haunting experience, and that it changed the course of my life and the life of those I love. She wished that she could have done more to protect J.J. because she was a big advocate in the prevention of child abuse, Although there is a rational connection between this evidence and a substantial amount of compensatory damages, it does not approach the level required to uphold an award of $200,000. The award is excessive and must be reduced substantially. Although the jury could have concluded that the J.J. incident triggered Adams's race-based tirade and brought to the surface a latent racial animus in the Park District that led to Schandelmeier's termination, the J.J. incident, in and of itself, was not an adverse employment action and was not actionable under Title VII. The jury could not hold the Park District liable for any emotional injury Schandelmeier might have suffered as a result of witnessing J.J.'s aunt strike him. Thus, we cannot find support for the award in Schandelmeier's testimony that she has been haunted or that the course of her life was changed because she witnessed the J.J. incident. We do consider Schandelmeier's testimony concerning the emotional impact of the discriminatory acts that were directed at her, including Adams's racist tirade and her termination. Although Adams's rants on July 31st and August 1st were understandably offensive and disturbing to Schandelmeier, those incidents were also isolated. She was not subjected to such incidents throughout her employment with the Park District, but only twice, and she did not testify to any lasting physical or emotional effects resulting from Adams's abuse. Regarding her termination, she testified that she was disturbed, devastated and upset to be losing her job, but she also testified that she found a new job just 10 days later. Schandelmeier did not testify to any lasting emotional or physical ill-effects from losing her job with the Park District. Schandelmeier cites several cases in which large compensatory damage awards were upheld on appeal. Her list includes Farfaras v. Citizens Bank & Trust, 433 F.3d 558, 563, 566-67 (7th Cir.2006) (upholding a compensatory damage award of $200,000 where employee suffered repeated physical and verbal sexual harassment and testified to ongoing physical and emotional issues, including lost self-esteem, weight gain, sleeping problems, and nervousness); Bogle v. McClure, 332 F.3d 1347, 1358-59 (11th Cir.2003) (compensatory damage award of $500,000 for each of seven plaintiffs in race discrimination case upheld where plaintiffs testified that racebased transfers destroyed their careers, upset, embarrassed, humiliated, and shamed them, and some plaintiffs became depressed); Lilley v. BTM Corp., 958 F.2d 746, 754 (6th Cir.1992) (upholding $350,000 for mental anguish resulting from retaliatory discharge under Michigan law where employee testified to resulting feelings of anguish and embarrassment, weight loss, difficulty sleeping, and marital troubles); Moody v. Pepsi-Cola Metro. Bottling Co., 915 F.2d 201, 210 (6th Cir.1990) (upholding $150,000 award for emotional distress in age discrimination case where plaintiff had ongoing depression and marital troubles as a result). These cases are helpful even though they are not controlling. See Lampley v. Onyx Acceptance Corp., 340 F.3d 478, 485 (7th Cir.2003) (Due to the highly fact-specific nature of Title VII cases, such comparisons are rarely dispositive.). The higher damage awards affirmed in these cases were supported with first- and third-person testimony regarding ongoing emotional and physical effects of the discrimination suffered by the plaintiffs. No such evidence supported the jury's award here. Other cases from this circuit in which plaintiffs were found to have suffered discriminatory workplace incidents and discharge are more instructive than those cited by Schandelmeier for finding a reasonable range for an award in this case. See, e.g., Marion County Coroner's Office, 612 F.3d at 930-31 (distinguishing Farfaras and reducing $200,000 award to $20,000 based on plaintiff's brief testimony that he had undergone weekly therapy sessions for several months to treat depression); Pickett v. Sheridan Health Care Center, 610 F.3d 434, 446 (7th Cir.2010) (upholding compensatory damage award of $15,000 where plaintiff testified that she was very upset by how she was treated, felt embarrassed, and nearly became homeless as a result of discriminatory discharge); Lust, 383 F.3d at 589 (finding that district court did not err in reducing jury's compensatory damage award from $100,000 to $27,000, and award was not excessive where plaintiff testified to nontrivial symptoms of anxiety and other forms of emotional distress due to belated promotion); David v. Caterpillar, Inc., 324 F.3d 851, 864 (7th Cir.2003) (upholding district court's reduction of compensatory damage award from $100,000 to $50,000 based on plaintiff's testimony that she became depressed, angry, and humiliated following co-worker's retaliatory promotion and suffered from stomachaches and difficulty sleeping); Tullis v. Townley Engineering & Mfg. Co., 243 F.3d 1058, 1067-68 (7th Cir.2001) (upholding $80,000 in damages for emotional distress where plaintiff felt degraded and backstabbed by employer). Under ordinary circumstances, we could remand this question to the district court for further consideration. As the Supreme Court has explained, Trial judges have the unique opportunity to consider the evidence in the living courtroom context, while appellate judges see only the cold paper record. Gasperini v. Center for Humanities, Inc., 518 U.S. 415, 438, 116 S.Ct. 2211, 135 L.Ed.2d 659 (1996) (internal quotations omitted). In this case, however, Judge Coar, the able district judge who presided over the trial, has retired from the judiciary. A remand would go to a different judge who would not have the benefit of having presided over the trial. We are now situated at least as well as a newly-assigned district judge would be to make this decision. We do not pretend that this is a scientific or precise calculation, and we owe the jury's determination substantial deference. See, e.g., Morales v. Cadena, 825 F.2d 1095, 1100 (7th Cir.1987) (affirming emotional damages award of $82,000). In the absence of stronger evidence of long-lasting emotional harm to plaintiff, and even giving due deference to the jury's determination, we find that an award higher than $30,000 on this record would be unreasonable. Upon remand, the district court shall enter judgment in favor of plaintiff for $30,000.