Union Pacific Owes Nearly $27 Million in Disability Bias Row (3)

Union Pacific Railroad Co. must pay a former employee nearly $27 million for disability bias after a judge allocated the bulk of the damages to the worker’s state-law claims to accommodate federal damages caps.

The Medford, Ore., federal jury urged the court to award $25 million in punitive damages, but federal law caps Americans with Disabilities Act damages at $300,000, Judge Ann L. Aiken said. However, the jury sided with the ex-employee “on both federal and state law discrimination claims and awarded damages without specifying the allocation,” so the worker gets the remaining $24.7 million for his Oregon bias ...