Who says you’ll never get rich working at Wal-Mart? A federal magistrate judge has just approved a $2.8 million award for disability-based discrimination on behalf of plaintiff Patrick Brady, who suffers from cerebral palsy. The company’s offense? It “violated federal and state laws by making a prohibited inquiry [relating to his disabilities] before giving Brady an employment offer. The company also subjected Brady to adverse employment conditions by transferring him from the pharmacy to a more physically taxing position pushing carts in the parking lot, according to the verdict.” The magistrate judge complained bitterly about having to reduce the award from the $7.5 million in damages, including $5 million in punitive damages, originally voted by the jury. On the tendency of stringent liability exposure to discourage employers’ hiring of disabled persons (workplace participation of whom actually went down, not up, after the ADA was passed), see, among other sources, Jul. 11, 2000, and this NBER paper. (Michael Bobelian, “Court Reluctantly Trims Wal-Mart Penalty”, New York Law Journal, Jun. 23).

Filed under: disabled rights, workplace