This web page is mainly about wrongful discharge settlements in the state of Virginia. It is very uncommon for great claims to go to trial, simply because they usually reach settlement out of court.
The majority of these court cases have mixed settlements, meaning they involved a single, or several claims of unlawful termination caused by whistleblower, constructive discharge, disability, breach of employment contract, gender discrimination or workplace retaliation.
The table which follows shows an overview of the various types of claims filed and additionally their specific quantities in VA 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Virginia | 2730 | 3.20% | 966 | 818 | 228 | 105 | 91 | 1201 | 987 | 518 | 864 | 36 | 10 |
Source: https://www1.eeoc.gov/eeoc/statistics/enforcement/state_17.cfm
Wrongful discharge and discrimination cases & settlements in Virginia
$ 197,500
2/15/2017
Jane Bethel v Norfolk City
Jane Bethel worked for the City of Norfolk in Virginia. She was a member of the city’s Employee Relations Committee and represented employees during internal grievance hearings whom alleged sexual harassment or discrimination.
She ha always received good performance reviews, but after 23 years working for the city, she was fired.
Her boss, the HR director and several other officials were actively gathering information against her in an effort to fire her.
Bethel sued the city alleging she was wrongly terminated in retaliation for union activity and employee advocacy. The case was settled out of court for $197,500. Source
$ 45,000
1/11/2012
EEOC v Family Dollar Stores of Virginia, Inc.
Chanele Brown worked as a customer services representative at a Family Dollar location in Richmond, Virginia.
She held the position for less than a month, since she was forced to quit her job because of sexual harassment. The male store manager repeatedly groped her and propositioned her for sex. The manager lowered her work hours, and told her that he would raise them again if she would invite him over.
Brown refused and resigned.
The EEOC sued the company for sexual harassment, which violates Title VII of the Civil Rights Act. The case was settled through a consent decree, Brown received a settlement of $45,000. Source
$ 400,000
1/4/2017
Anastasia Wootten v Virginia (DMV)
Anastasia Wootten worked at the Deparment of Motor Vehicles as a law enforcement agent. She got into a physical encounter with a colleague of hers in the restroom, which led to her discharge from the DMV.
She sued her former employer on a myriad of charges, some of which were denied by the judge.
One of her charges was that she was denied a post-termination grievance hearing, which would have cleared things. The jury agreed and awarded her benefits and interest of $237,236, She also asked for reinstatement, which the district judge denied and instead gave her front pay of $161,947. Source
$ 80,000
7/30/2012
EEOC v Huntington Ingalls, Inc. and Quality Coatings of Virginia, Inc.
Walter Strickland and Brian Glover worked for Quality Coatings as part of the cleaning crew aboard the USS George W. Bush, which was docked in Norfolk at the time. The shipyard was operated by Huntington Ingalls.
They were fired the day they made a written complaint about a female supervisor, who was kneeing her male subordinates in the groin.
They contacted the EEOC, who sued the companies on their behalf for retaliatory wrongful termination.
The case was settled through a consent decree, the 2 ex-employees received total monetary damages of $80,000. Source
$ 20,000
3/2/2015
EEOC v Savi Technology, Inc.
Christine Rowe applied for a job offering at Savi Technology in Alexandria, VA. She interviewed for the position of the director of human resources.
She was the best candidate and received a job offer, however, 1 day after the company learned that she had recently given birth and had surgery related to her pregnancy, they rescinded the offer.
The EEOC sued the company for violating the Pregnancy Discrimination Act, as the company discriminated against Rowe based on her pregnancy and related medical condition.
The case was settled through a consent decree, Rowe received $20,000 monetary relief. Source
$ 50,000
3/9/2009
EEOC v Advance Stores Company, Inc.
Advance Auto Parts was looking for sales associates in it’s Norton, VA store. Jeffrey Scott Sanders had completed an internship as a salesperson at the company’s Staunton retail location, and applied for the job. Sanders has cerebral palsy, a movement disorder.
Sanders was qualified for the part-time sales position, but was not hired. The company hired others who were not as qualified as he was.
Alleging disability discrimination, he reported the events to the EEOC, who sued Advances Auto Parts on his behalf. The company violated the American’s with Disabilities Act, when it discriminated against Sanders because of his impairment, despite the fact that he could have carried out his duties. The law protects job applicants as well as existing employees from discrimination.
The case was settled for $50,000 through a consent decree. Source
When thinking about this listing of wrongful termination settlements from Virginia, bear in mind that the large amounts are the result of punitive compensation. Punitive damages are handed out to discourage organizations from engaging in the same sort of inappropriate act. Punitive damages are very infrequent. A good number of court cases will settle for anywhere from $40,000 to just a few hundred thousand dollars.
This directory of wrongful firing settlements and verdicts in VA was created for informative purposes. Even if you feel resemblance to any of these circumstances, do not forget that every single case is different.
What is the average wrongful termination settlement/award in Virginia?
If you believe you have been wrongfully terminated, it’s easy to understand that you might want to check just how much money you are likely to receive for your wrongful dismissal lawsuit. In the event that you reach settlement, the total amount you obtain is largely based upon these factors: lost wages, medical costs, costs of finding a new job, lost benefits, mental anguish and reason of discharge. Punitive damages could be awarded in rare cases, if the employer behaved egregiously.
As so you see from the sample claims described above, presenting a median settlement for unlawful dismissal claims in VA is going to be tricky, since each individual case is different.
The average wrongful termination settlement in Virginia is between $5,000 – $100,000.
Legal professionals are certainly beneficial in working out a higher settlement.
The majority of court or jury awards are higher, between $110,000 and $450,000. This is definitely one of the reasons employers like to reach settlement outside of court. Several years of litigation, bearing its legal costs and perhaps losing the court case in the end can become costly.
Filing a wrongful discharge or discrimination claim in Virginia
If you think maybe you were dismissed from your job for an unlawful reason, here is what to do.
At the outset, you’ll want to speak with a wrongful termination attorney in Virginia to find out whether or not you have a case worth pursuing.
Don’t put it off, because there are deadlines to submitting unlawful firing claims in Virginia.
Next, you are going to most likely need to submit a timely claim with the EEOC in Richmond or Norfolk.
Here are a few guidelines on filing a wrongful discharge claim.
