PHILADELPHIA - A Pennsylvania district court has denied a motion from Temple University in an age discrimination lawsuit that features a six-figure verdict.
Former employee Ruth Briggs sued the univesity in January 2016, claiming she was discriminated against during her employment.
“Additionally, Briggs claimed that Temple subjected her to a hostile work environment and retaliated against her for complaining of age and gender discrimination in the workplace," according to the court decision.
A jury granted Briggs a total of $850,000 in compensation over the case.
Temple then filed a Motion for Judgment as a Matter of Law or, in the Alternative, for a New Trial or, in the Alternative, for a Remittitur.
Briggs began working at Temple in 2001 as an editorial assistant. In 2005, she began working as an executive assistant for interim Dean Allen Nicholson of the College of Science and Technology. In 2009, she took on a role as the executive assistant for then-chair of the Department of Computer Information Services Jie Wu. Briggs testified that Wu would raise his voice at her and yell degrading things at her in public.
The jury was told that on Nov. 9, 2011, Wu found out that Briggs was turning 57 and told her that in his home country of China, women were "put out to pasture" by that age. Briggs told Wu that they were in America and not China.
Shortly after, Briggs was called into a meeting with Greg Wacker, former Director of Finance and Administration and current Assistant Dean of Finance and Administration. She was told that Wu had complained “that she had been unprofessional to him and that she was going to be written up,” according to the court document. Briggs explained Wu’s remark that had prompted her comment, but Wacker said it did not matter.
Briggs then filed a complaint with Temple’s Equal Opportunity Compliance Office. During the process, she expressed concern over the comment by Wu and also said she was underpaid compared to male colleagues and that her job responsibilities were being given to someone else.
In March 2013, Briggs received a second write-up and a three-day unpaid suspension. The incident that prompted the action was Briggs’ failure to organize a faculty candidate’s flight and attendance to a job interview.
She wrote an email to Walter expressing her concern that the punishment was severe and she was overwhelmed with extra duties while a co-worker was away. She received a third disciplinary action in February 2014 after she slept in and was three hours late from work.
“The jury also heard testimony from Briggs and Wu that, around the same time that Briggs was late, King, who was considerably younger than Briggs, did not show up to work for three straight days,” according to the court documents. “King never called into work to tell anyone where she was, but nevertheless, King received no written discipline.”
The U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania denied the motion from Temple and also granted a motion from Briggs for front pay of $60,670.20.