$1.025 Million Jury Verdict/Equitable Relief for Sex Discrimination

$1.025 Million Jury Verdict/Equitable Relief Award for Female AMTRAK Engineer

Felicia and her co-counsel obtained a combined jury verdict and equitable relief award after jury trial for the female locomotive engineer in the amount of $1.025 million. The court also ordered AMTRAK to pay an additional award of $350,000 for the engineer’s attorney fees. This case, Gotthardt v. National Railroad Passenger Corp. (AMTRAK) 191 F.3d 1148 (9th Cir. 1999), was the first appellate decision in this Circuit holding that the damage cap of 42 U.S.C. Section 1981a(b)(3) does not apply to an employee’s claims for lost future wages (“front pay”) under the federal anti-discrimination law, Title VII. This issue was later resolved on a nationwide basis in 2001, by the U.S. Supreme Court, in Pollard v. E.I. du Pont (2001) 532 U.S. 843, once again in the plaintiff’s favor.