Plaintiff wins First Amendment verdict in excess of $8,000,000!!

In what may be one of the largest employment law verdicts in the State of Connecticut, a physician, Dr. Berry Schumann won a huge verdict against Dianon Systems, Inc. for terminating him in violation of Connecticut General Statutes Section 31-51q and in violation of public policy.  The plaintiff was represented by Attorney Stephen J. Fitzgerald of Garrison, Levin-Epstein, Chimes & Richardson, P.C.  The defendant was represented by Attorney Daniel Schwartz of Pullman & Comley.  Dr. Schumann claimed that he was terminated in retaliation for his internal complaints about a new test which was unverified, overly expensive and unnecessary.  The Honorable Deborah Frankel presided.  The verdict was for $4.2 million but is expected to exceed $8,000,000 when attorneys fees, punitive damages and interest on an offer of judgment are added.  Congratulations to Attorney Fitzgerald and Dr. Schumann!  Good luck with the post trial motions and what will likely be an appeal.

High Court denies employer’s motion for reconsideration in Curry.

The Connecticut Supreme Court has denied the Defendant’s Motion for Reconsideration in Curry v. Allan S. Goodman, Inc.  I wrote about this important case in an earlier post.  The employer had filed a motion for reconsideration asking, among other things, that the high court revisit the issue of whether or not the Plaintiff’s attorney’s post termination letter could be considered a request for an accommodation.  While the Court did not articulate its reason for denying this motion, the undersigned believes that the issue was a red herring.  Mr. Curry had clearly asked for an accommodation himself prior to his termination by posting for the lighter duty warehouse position.  The Court had clearly indicated that this request constituted a request for an accommodation.  The opinion stands as written.