Jury Awards $31M in Sex Discrimination Suit Against Wal-Mart

On January 27, 2016, a female pharmacist was awarded 31.22 million dollars in damages against Walmart. The pharmacist alleged that she was terminated because of her gender and in retaliation for complaining about safety conditions.  Wal-Mart claimed it fired her because she lost her pharmacy key even though one or more male pharmacists also lost their pharmacy keys, but were not fired. The jury verdict consists of $164,093 in back pay, $558,392 in front pay, $500,000 in compensatory damages, and punitive damages of 15 million dollars on each of the plaintiff’s federal and state discrimination and retaliation claims.

McPadden v. Wal-Mart Stores East LP, No. 14-00475 (Dist. NH, 1/27/2016).