Opinion ID: 4470994
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Reputational Harm

Text: Plaintiff asked for compensatory damages based on the emotional distress, lost wages, and reputational harm caused by Defendant’s conduct. The jury returned a general verdict awarding $250,000 in compensatory damages; that is, it did not apportion its calculation based on the three types of harm alleged by 15 Case: 17-11447 Date Filed: 01/09/2020 Page: 16 of 77 Plaintiff. On appeal, Defendant argues that Plaintiff failed to present evidence sufficient to prove damage to his reputation. Although Plaintiff’s evidence of reputational harm was not earth-shattering, we conclude that a reasonable jury could find that he suffered harm to his reputation. At trial, Plaintiff testified that a Rent-A-Center employee’s “demeanor changed” after issuance of the background report showing that he had been charged with selling cocaine. The employee insisted to Plaintiff that Defendant’s “system is accurate and they can find anything and everything about you down to your juvenile records.” Moreover, Rent-A-Center declined to re-extend a job offer to Plaintiff even after the correction of his report. We conclude that this is sufficient for a jury to conclude that Plaintiff suffered some reputational harm. 6 We therefore affirm the district court’s denial of Defendant’s motion for judgment as a matter of law with respect to reputational harm.