A jury awards a former Beloit Walmart employee $5.2 million in a disability discrimination lawsuit against his old employer.
The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission represented Paul Reina, who has a developmental disability and is visually and hearing impaired
He worked as a cart pusher in Beloit for 16 years, and the EEOC’s lawsuit accused a manager at the Beloit Walmart of cutting off communication and effectively terminating him.
A Walmart spokesperson said they determined Reina could not perform the essential parts of his job with or without reasonable accommodations.
The suit went to trial this week for three and a half days, and a jury awarded the Beloit man $200,000 in compensatory damages and $5 million in punitive damages.
The jury found that Walmart violated federal law for failing to accommodate the disabilities of the employee.
Federal laws limit how much in damages the man can actually be awarded to a combined total of $300,000.
Walmart said in a statement they do not tolerate discrimination.
“We attempted to accommodate Mr. Reina’s severe limitations for several years but ultimately that was no longer feasible,” a spokesperson said. “We believe we could have resolved this issue with Mr. Reina, however the EEOC’s demands were unreasonable. We are disappointed in the outcome, do not believe the verdict is supported by the evidence and are weighing our post-trial options.”
