This web page is all about wrongful termination settlements in Arkansas. It is actually rare for good claims to go to court, because they typically settle out of court. But when they do not settle, there could be a lawsuit, where the employee or the employer will win.
A lot of these court cases contain mixed verdicts, meaning that they implicated one, or possibly a number of claims of wrongful firing as a result of pregnancy, sexual orientation, gender expression or gender identity discrimination, disability, workplace retaliation, whistleblower, firing in violation of public policy or breach of employment contract.
The data listed below presents an overview of the various types of claims filed as well as their volumes in the state of AR in 2017.
| State | 2017 Total Charges | % of Total USA Charges | Race | Sex | Natl Origin | Religion | Color | Retaliation All Statutes | TVII Retaliation | Age | Disability | EPA | GINA |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Arkansas | 1371 | 1.60% | 596 | 439 | 68 | 51 | 34 | 454 | 369 | 261 | 414 | 12 | 1 |
Source: https://www1.eeoc.gov/eeoc/statistics/enforcement/state_17.cfm
Wrongful discharge cases & settlements in Arkansas
$ 125,000
8/24/2011
EEOC v Forrest City Grocery Company
Forrest City Grocery Company was a wholesale business distributing grocery items and tobacco to retail and convenience stores.
Amanda McMillan worked for the company, and wanted to become a salesman, traveling the area, selling the company’s products to local businesses. The company denied her request, and said the job of a salesman was too dangerous for a woman. They also added that McMillan would not be a good mother if she were on the road meeting customers. In addition to this, she was paid less, than male colleagues with the same role.
McMillan reported this to the EEOC, which sued the company for sex discrimination. Denying opportunities at work based on gender stereotypes is in violation of Title VII.
She received $125,000 as settlement. Source
$ 95,000
7/15/2011
Kathryn Jezwinski v. City of Jacksonville
Kathryn Jezwinski worked as the Deputy Clerk of the City of Jacksonville under the supervision of City Clerk Susan Davitt.
Jezwinski joined the Arkansas Air National Guard in 2006, which her boss did not agree with, saying, “Females should not join the military”. During her basic training, she suffered a knee injury which needed prolonged recovery time. As a result, her active duty time was extended, which meant she could not return to her job at the City of Jacksonville yet. The HR department asked her to come back to work, but she could not do so, being on active duty.
When Jezwinski did return to work a while later, her boss changed procedures and gave her no training. Her boss said she didn’t know how to do her job, and made her working conditions intolerable, attempting to force constructive discharge.
Jezwinski sued her employer for retaliation and wrongful termination, and was awarded $95,000 by the court. Source
$ 1,307,597
7/31/2009
EEOC v AT&T
Jose Gonzalez and Glenn Owen (brothers-in-law) worked for telecommunications giant AT&T as customer service technicians. Owen worked at AT&T for nearly 6 years, Gonzalez for more than eight years.
The employees held strong religious beliefs, which required them to attend a Jehova’s Witness Convention every year. They had done so throughout their years of employment at AT&T. This required 1 day of leave each year.
In January of 2005, they sent a written request to their manager asking for a day of leave for the convention in July. A few days after the convention, they were suspended and fired.
The EEOC sued AT&T on behalf of the employees for violating Title VII, as the claim showed religions discrimination and wrongful termination.
After a 4 day trial, the jury awarded back pay, front pay, compensatory damages and interest amounting to over $1.3 million. AT&T appealed the verdict, but the Eighth Circuit upheld the verdict. Source
$ 549,000
11/19/2002
Hartley v. Dillards, Inc.
Dorman Hartley was a 64 year old store manager for Dillard’s Inc., a department store chain. He was the manager of it’s McCain Mall store in North Little Rock.
The store made profit, but it wasn’t meeting full profit expectations for fiscal years 1997 and 1998. This was a period of economic decline, and many other Dillard’s stored in Arkansas made a loss.
Hartley was out on vacation in August, 1999. When he returned to work, he was fired on his first day. His assistant manager (who was 32) was not disciplined. Hartley’s replacement was a 32 year old man, half of Hartley’s age.
Despite the fact that other Arkansas stores were making a loss, the younger store managers were not terminated. There was only 1 other manager who was “disciplined”, but not fired. This manager was 49 years old, and was a transfer possibility, demotion, or termination.
Hartley sued Dillard’s for willful age discrimination and wrongful termination. The court ruled in his favor awarding him back pay of $237,669, front pay of $246,774 and attorney fees and costs of $65,269. Source
$ 190,000
11/28/2011
EEOC v. D&H Company, Dodge Brothers, Inc., and Giant Oil Company of Arkansas, Inc.
The manager of a convenience store in Hot Springs started having seizures. She could still perform her in-store duties, but her doctor restricted her from driving.
Part of her job was to conduct daily competitor gasoline price surveys. She would have needed to drive to conduct these surveys. She requested that the employer allow another employee to carry out this task, while she handled that employee’s in-store duties.
The employer denied her request for a rational accommodation and terminated her, which is in violation of the Americans with Disabilities act.
The EEOC sued the employer on behalf of the victim, and reached a consent decree, where she would receive a $190,000 settlement for the wrongful termination lawsuit. Source
$ 25,000
2/7/1997
Judy Stone v. Regional Nursing Center of Bryant
Judy Stone worked as a nurse for the Regional Nursing Center of Bryant. During her day-to-day job, she realized that the nursing center was not providing the nursing services it should have.
Realizing that this was wrong, she reported the inappropriate care being given to residents at the nursing home to a state agency.
In retaliation for reporting her employer to state authorities, she was wrongfully terminated.
She sued the nursing center, and was awarded $25,000 in damages. Source
$ 103,000
11/10/2016
EEOC v McDonald’s operator Mathews Management Company and Peach Orchard, Inc.
An unnamed McDonald’s employee was fired within days of the company finding out, that he had contracted HIV. His duties at the fast food restaurant included opening and closing the restaurant, operating the register, cleaning and working the drive-thru window.
The EEOC sued the McDonald’s franchisee for violating the Americans with Disabilities act, since they discriminated against the victim by firing him due to his illness.
The lawsuit also claimed that the company required all employees to disclose which medications they take, which is also illegal.
The employer settled to pay $103,000 to the victim out of court. Source
$ 88,000
12/23/2010
EEOC v Crothall Healthcare, Inc.
Crothall Healthcare provides cleaning services to health care institutions.
The EEOC sued the company on behalf of a worker who had been fired after she informed her supervisor that she was pregnant. Such conduct is illegal and violates Title VII and the Pregnancy Discrimination Act.
The company settled the wrongful termination and pregnancy discrimination suit by reinstating the fired employee, and paying her $88,000 in damages. Source
When viewing our list of wrongful termination settlements from Arkansas, take into account that the bigger sums are the result of punitive compensation. Punitive damages are rewarded to discourage organizations from doing the same kind of unlawful act. Punitive compensation is quite rare. The vast majority of cases settle for approximately $20,000 to one hundred thousand dollars.
This directory of wrongful termination verdicts in AR is intended for informative purposes. Despite the fact that you feel similarity to any of these lawsuits, understand that each situation is different.
Average wrongful termination settlements in Arkansas
It is easy to understand that you want to find out the amount of money you can expect to receive for your wrongful termination lawsuit. If you settle, the amount you are given is generally dependant on these factors: medical expenses, job search costs, emotional distress, lost benefits, lost wages and reason of termination. Punitive damages could be granted in rare situations, in the event the employer behaved egregiously.
As you can observe from the sample cases in this article, providing a typical settlement for wrongful discharge claims in AR is very difficult since every case is different.
The average wrongful termination settlement in Arkansas is between $5,000 – $80,000.
Legal professionals can be helpful while reaching a larger settlement.
The majority of court or jury awards tend to be bigger, between $110,000 to $500,000. This is a good reason companies prefer to accept a settlement outside of court. Numerous years of litigation, bearing the legal costs and perhaps losing the lawsuit in the end can certainly be expensive.
Filing a wrongful termination claim in Arkansas
If you feel you had been fired for some kind of unlawful cause, here are tips on what to do.
Most important, you will need to get in touch with a wrongful termination attorney in Arkansas to see if you have a case worth pursuing.
Don’t procrastinate, since there are deadlines to reporting wrongful firing claims in Arkansas.
2nd, you’ll probably need to file a timely claim with the Little Rock Area of the EEOC.
Here are the steps you’ll want to take to file a wrongful termination lawsuit.
