Note: This article has been corrected to reflect that the judge stuck down the punitive damages award outright. An earlier version reported that he ordered a retrial on that point.
A Massachusetts federal judge upheld a $152,500 back pay award in an employment discrimination case against a Boy Scout chapter and awarded $70,175 in attorney’s fees, but nixed a $300,000 punitive damages award.
The May 18 order in Aly v. Mohegan Council, Boy Scouts of America affirmed the jury’s September 2011 back pay award for Kamal Aly, who’d been a district executive at the council from August 2001 until his October 2005 resignation.
Aly, a Muslim of Egyptian descent, sued Mohegan Council in March 2008 for allegedly denying him training, a promotion and appropriate compensation because of his national origin and religion.
Aly represented himself pro se until he hired Boston-based Mann & Martin in March 2010.
In denying Mohegan Council’s motion for judgment as a matter of law, U.S. District Judge Dennis Saylor IV noted that much of the evidence of discrimination was based on credibility determinations, which the jury made in Aly’s favor. He denied the council’s new trial motion because “the verdict is not against the demonstrable weight of the credible evidence.”
Saylor granted the council’s motion for judgment as a matter of law on the punitive damages award, on the ground that there wasn’t enough evidence to support the award. “Even construed in the light most favorable to the verdict, there was no evidence presented of reckless or callous indifference to plaintiff’s federally-protected rights,” he wrote.
Saylor cited Title VII language stipulating that courts may award reasonable attorney fees.
Aly and his legal team haven’t decided whether they’re going to appeal the decision on punitive damages, said John Martin, a Framingham, Mass., partner at Mann & Martin.
Under Title VII, the maximum Aly can receive in punitive damages is $50,000, based on the number Mohegan Council employees, so the team expected the district court to reduce that award, Martin said.
As for the back pay, Martin said it’s far more difficult for a plaintiff to prove discrimination claims following a resignation, but “we did a strong job in proving there was no legitimate justification” for denying Aly the training.
Neither Mohegan Council nor its lawyers at Richmond, Va.-based LeClairRyan responded to requests for comment.
Sheri Qualters can be contacted at [email protected].
