Featured Verdict: Jury Award Former Jack In The Box Employee $15.4 Million For Disability and Age Discrimination and Retaliation

On June 11, 2019, a Los Angeles County Jury awarded Blanca Ramirez $15.4 million, including $5.4 million in compensatory damages and $10 million in punitive damages. Ramirez was 54 years old when was terminated in 2013. She worked at Jack in the Box from 2001-13 and was a supervisor, or “team leader”, when she was fired. Ramirez, who worked a swing shift for about 10 years, said she was hurt in February 2013 when a box fell on her from a high shelf. Ramirez contended that Jack in the Box denied Ramirez never offered her any accommodations. Further, Ramirez also alleged that Jack in the Box fired her due to her two complaints about sexual harassment in the workplace. Ramirez alleged that she complained about a manager being involved in a “bizarre love-triangle” with two subordinates as well as a 22-year-old supervisor engaging in “serious misconduct” with at least two 16-year-old subordinates.

Attorneys for Jack in the Box maintained in their court papers that Ramirez was fired in September 2013 for manipulating the restaurant’s “speed-of-service” system, in which a goal is set to get food to customers within three to four minutes of placing their orders. Video images showed that Ramirez directed one customer in the drive-thru lane to back up and pull forward to start the service time all over again, according to the defense attorneys’ court papers. Nevertheless, the jury found that Ramirez was fired for illegitimate reasons.