Everyone should be judged on their jobs by the quality of their work. Unfortunately, in far too many instances, managerial biases and prejudices exert unfair influence over the hiring and promotional practices of a business.

Because of that, there is judicial relief available to those who were unfairly victimized by workplace discrimination. That’s the option that one woman in another state utilized to win a mid-seven figure verdict in her racial discrimination suit against her employer.

Jury hands down $6 million to plaintiff

On Nov. 1, a jury in Bergen County, New Jersey, awarded a female plaintiff $6 million. The award included punitive damages of $4.13 million. Plaintff filed her racial discrimination lawsuit against the Care One nursing facility that terminated her from her position as vice president of clinical leadership.

Racist remark preceded firing

The African American woman was terminated from a position where she earned a $190,000 annual salary. The interim administrator let her go one day after asking her to return to her lower-paying position as a clinical services consultant. She had been recently promoted to the higher paying position after submitting her resignation from the consultancy job.

When the woman did not initially respond to the requested demotion, the interim administrator then remarked, “I don’t want a black person walking around here in a suit as a VP. I want you in scrubs, flats and a lab coat.”

She was fired the very next day.

Defense fell short

The interim administrator did not admit to making the racist remark. Instead, she claimed that she had merely encouraged plaintiff to do direct patient care duties on an as-needed basis and to be willing to wear scrubs when it was necessary.

Further testimony alleged that the interim administrator also called another African American employee a “slave.”

Take a stand and fight back

No one should have to be subjected to racial discrimination to earn a paycheck. But it can be both challenging and intimidating to launch a court battle against the company that employs you or even a former employer.

Fortunately, you don’t have fight alone. An employment discrimination attorney can help you at every step of the way.