In UNITED STATES EQUAL EMPLOYMENT OPPORTUNITY COMMISSION, Plaintiff, v. MCLANE/EASTERN, INC., doing business as McLane Northeast, Defendant., 2024 WL 5153167, at *6 (N.D.N.Y., 2024), the court, inter alia, denied defendant’s motion for a new trial, finding that the jury’s award of emotional distress damages in the amount of $150,000 was not excessive.
From the decision:
Emotional distress damages are available even where the plaintiff has not sought medical treatment or the distress does not manifest in physical symptoms.” Asare, 476 F. Supp. 3d 20, 37 (S.D.N.Y. 2020) (quoting Saber v. N.Y. State Dep’t of Fin. Servs., No. 15-cv-5944, 2018 WL 3491695, at *12, 2018 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 121811, at *35 (S.D.N.Y. July 20, 2018)). However, while “there is no requirement that a plaintiff introduce medical or expert testimony regarding his damages, the court must consider the lack of such evidence when assessing whether the award is reasonable.” White, 2021 WL 282561, at *3, 2021 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 16061, at *5. And although “a jury has broad discretion in measuring damages, it ‘may not abandon analysis for sympathy for a suffering plaintiff and treat an injury as though it were a winning lottery ticket.’ ” Id. (quoting Dotson, 2011 WL 817499, at *13, 2011 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 20374, at *35).
Valentino testified at trial that she experienced some anxiety “a few years” prior to her experience with McLane, but that her anxiety “increased dramatically” after McLane rejected her on March 13, 2018. (Dkt. No. 118, at 62). Valentino felt that her prior work experience had prepared her for the jobs she applied for at McLane, (Dkt. No. 117, at 70), and that the Selector II or IV positions “would be a good fit” for her, (id. at 66). They were entry-level jobs. (Dkt. No. 118, at 110). Even so, Valentino had previously worked in a warehouse, (id. at 68-69), at a restaurant, (id. at 71-72), and when she had her son, she was a busy stay-at-home mom and a college student, (id. at 75-76). When McLane rejected her for these entry-level positions, her “self-esteem was more deflated[.]” (Dkt. No. 118, at 22). She “felt hopeless,” and she felt that she couldn’t “provide for her family.” (Id.). She “couldn’t sleep well at night,” and “[s]ometimes [she] would stay up all night.” (Id.) She admitted that she woke up in the middle of the night before her rejection, but only twice a month. (Id. at 23-24). After her rejection, she woke up three times a week. (Id. at 24). Valentino experienced a racing heartbeat and was diagnosed with heart palpitations in 2021, and she testified that she believed McLane’s rejection in 2018 “was part of it.”
This decision thus illustrates that so-called “garden variety” damages, where plaintiff’s testimony was the sole evidence of his emotional distress, may warrant awards in this range.