{"id":166348,"date":"2022-12-28T08:05:35","date_gmt":"2022-12-28T12:05:35","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/?p=166348"},"modified":"2022-12-28T08:05:35","modified_gmt":"2022-12-28T12:05:35","slug":"u-s-virgin-islands-supreme-court-affirms-compensatory-damages-award-to-former-liat-employee-claiming-age-discrimination","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/u-s-virgin-islands-supreme-court-affirms-compensatory-damages-award-to-former-liat-employee-claiming-age-discrimination\/","title":{"rendered":"U.S. Virgin Islands Supreme Court Affirms Compensatory Damages Award To Former LIAT Employee Claiming Age Discrimination"},"content":{"rendered":"
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On December 5, 2022, the Supreme Court of the Virgin Islands upheld\u00a0a 2019 jury verdict, which found that Caribbean airline LIAT (1974), Ltd., had discharged its former area manager, William Cherubin, because of his age in violation of the Virgin Islands Civil Rights Act (VICRA).<\/p>

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In doing so, the court addressed the standards for establishing liability under the VICRA and rejected several challenges advanced by LIAT concerning the sufficiency of the evidence supporting the jury\u2019s award of damages.<\/p>\n

Background<\/h3>\n

On June 4, 2015, LIAT terminated the employment of Cherubin, a 71-year-old area manager who had worked for LIAT for 47 years, based upon a determination that he had engaged in \u201cgross misconduct\u201d due to his involvement in incidents that prompted the issuance of two written warning letters three months earlier.<\/p>

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Approximately one month before it involuntarily separated Cherubin, LIAT had launched a voluntary separation program and an early retirement program for employees under age 65 in furtherance of an effort to reduce operating costs.<\/p>

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Cherubin filed suit against LIAT on February 27, 2017, alleging that LIAT had unlawfully terminated his employment because of his age, and the case proceeded to trial approximately two years later, in February 2019. In finding LIAT liable for age discrimination in violation of the VICRA, the jury awarded Cherubin compensatory damages in the amount of $1,633,320, consisting of $82,000 in lost wages and $1,551,320 for mental anguish.<\/p>\n

The Virgin Islands Supreme Court\u2019s Decision<\/h3>\n

LIAT appealed the judgment, arguing that the trial court erred when it denied LIAT\u2019s renewed motion for judgment as a matter of law because Cherubin had failed to introduce sufficient evidence to establish that LIAT had discharged him due to his age and not because of misconduct or other permissible reasons.<\/p>

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In its discussion rejecting LIAT\u2019s challenge to the finding of liability, the court instructed that the\u00a0McDonnell Douglas<\/em>\u00a0burden-shifting framework applicable to claims under the federal Age Discrimination in Employment Act (ADEA) did not apply to claims arising under the VICRA because the\u00a0McDonnell Douglas<\/em>\u00a0framework was inconsistent with Virgin Islands law regarding the burden of proof in civil cases.<\/p>\n

Nonetheless, the court concluded that Cherubin had provided the jury with \u201csufficient affirmative circumstantial evidence\u201d to \u201creasonably infer that LIAT systematically discriminated against its employees based on age, and that age discrimination therefore was a motivating factor in its decision to terminate Cherubin.\u201d<\/p>

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Specifically, the court highlighted the following evidence:<\/p>

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