A New Jersey appeals court won't disturb a $1.1 million judgment against a bankrupt Montclair abortion clinic owner who allegedly fired three employees after they became pregnant.

In an unpublished opinion Tuesday, Appellate Division Judges Douglas Fasciale and Paulette Sapp-Peterson said the defendants—Pilgrim Medical Center and its owner, Dr. Nicholas Campanella—should not be rewarded for repeatedly refusing to cooperate with discovery demands and failing to present any type of meritorious defense.

Kathryn McClure, one of the attorneys representing the three plaintiffs, said an additional $500,000 in counsel fees may be added on after a successful defense of the defendants' appeal. The need to hire another attorney to investigate the defendants' bankruptcy filings from last year accounts for the fee sum, she said.