News Story
Mass Lawyer's Weekly
Monday, July 20, 2007

'Unusual' HR expert key to $2M Wal-Mart verdict

By Noah Schaffer

The unusual presence of an expert witness in human-resource-department practices was part of the presentation that convinced a Berkshire County jury to award nearly $2 million to a former Wal-Mart pharmacist who claimed she was paid less then her male counterparts and then fired in retaliation for complaining.

Plaintiff Cynthia Haddad worked for more than 10 years at the Pittsfield Wal-Mart. She complained that the retail giant laid her off after she asked to be paid the same as her male counterparts, including a bonus given to pharmacy managers. The company paid the bonus, then fired her two weeks later.
Wal-Mart said the pharmacist was laid off because she left the pharmacy unattended during a period in which an authorized prescription was written by a technician.

Richard E. Fradette of Manchester, N.H., who was co-counsel for the plaintiff, told Lawyers Weekly that besides important testimony from Haddad, the jury also heard from North Andover attorney Julie A. Moore, an employment consultant.

“She testified about how a corporation is supposed to adopt policies and procedures, and about communicating them to the workforce,” said Fradette. “The defense had no expert on the issue of the standard of treatment when you adopt, enforce and communicate policies [to employees].

“I don’t know how often courts allow experts to testify about human resource issues, added plaintiff co-counsel David E. Belfort of Cambridge. “We had a 60-90 minute voir dire on it.

An economist, a treating expert and a liability expert also testified for the plaintiffs. Belfort said the defense countered with its own liability expert, who admitted on cross examination that he had billed Wal-Mart $12,000 for his services “for a dispute that was originally $7,000.

The jury of eight women and four men aged 24 to 76 returned a verdict that included $1,767 in past lost wages, $95,000 in damages for improper termination of employment, $125,000 for emotional distress, $17,700 in financial damages, and $733,000 in lost future wages — plus $1 million for punitive damages.
The punitive damage amount is an abundantly conservative number,” said Belfort. It was not laced with passion; it was not a runaway verdict. I bet this doesn’t cause a blip on [Wal-Mart’s] radar screen."

A national class-action lawsuit by female employees over alleged wage inequities is in the works but, as a professional employee, Haddad was not eligible to join the class.

Defense attorney George P. Kostakos of Boston declined to comment. Settlement talks never got anywhere because Haddad insisted on an apology, according to Fradette.

It would have to have been a written public apology for the conduct against [Cynthia], Fradette said. That was a non-starter. Our demand could have been $100,000 or $100 million, but because we insisted on an apology, Wal-Mart would not discuss a settlement and never offered us a penny.
* * *
Type of action: Employment discrimination
Injuries alleged: Lost wages
Name of case: Haddad v Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. et al.
Court/case no.: Berkshire Superior Court, No. 05-00274
Trial before judge or jury: jury
Name of judge: John A. Agostini
Amount of verdict: $1.97 million
Date: June 19, 2007
Highest offer: No offer made
Most helpful experts: Julia A. Moore, North Andover; Dr. Craig Moore, Northampton (for the plaintiffs) Attorneys: David E. Belfort, Corrigan, Bennett & Belfort, Cambridge; Richard E. Fradette, Beliveau, Fradette, Doyle & Gallant, Manchester, N.H, (for the plaintiffs)