Jury orders Stanford to pay millions to employee in harassment case

A jury has discovered Stanford College and Stanford Well being Care responsible for thousands and thousands of {dollars} in damages to a longtime worker who sued the establishment over its dealing with of racial harassment and discrimination in opposition to her a decade in the past.

After a seven-week trial, the jury ordered the award to be $20 million, however the Alameda County Superior Court docket concluded final week the award needs to be diminished to $10 million. Half can be for defamation and previous and future damages to the plaintiff, and the remaining $5 million can be in punitive damages. If the plaintiff agrees to the discount, the courtroom will order Stanford College and Stanford Well being Care to pay out the sum.

The worker, affected person testing technician Qiqiuia Younger, alleged in a 100-page lawsuit filed in 2017 that issues started when her co-workers at Stanford Most cancers Middle dressed as members of the Ku Klux Klan round Halloween. Images of at the very least one particular person — who was carrying a pillowcase as a hood and was pretending to be a KKK member — had been later proven to Younger.