Witkowski v International Brotherhood of Boilermakers Local Union No. 154, C.A. No. 06-874 (U.S. District Court, W.D. PA)
Jan 30, 2009OUTCOME: Jury Verdict for Plaintiff. Defendant must pay $1.2 Million plus interest for violating the law.
The jury found that the Defendant union retaliated against Plaintiff union member John Witkowski when he complained about age discrimination. Plaintiff claimed he did not get jobs through the union hir ... ing hall because of his age, over 40 years of age. One day at work at the Bruce Mansfield power plant near Pittsburgh, a 16 foot 80 lb scaffolding plank fell from above where Witkowski was working. He could have been killed. The union denied for 5 years that they knew anything about a plank falling, but the discovery and investigation by attorney Michael Lorence proved that the plank did fall. A coworker who witnessed the plank falling testified at trial. The union then claimed that the plank incident did occur but that it was an accident. Another member threatened the Plaintiff for suing the Union and when he asked for help from the union steward, the union steward just stood there and did nothing. Later, the Union steward came up to Plaintiff and said to him "see what happens when you sue the Union?" Twenty 20 years earlier a class-action lawsuit had been filed against this union before the National Labor Relations Board in Pittsburgh. The union settled the case for $2.5 million. At about this time in the early 1980s hearings were held in Washington DC before Senator Orrin Hatch. Since that time anyone who sued the Union was called a "sue-ee". Because he was harassed, suffered a hostile work environment, was afraid to return to work for nearly 5 years, and was "constructively" discharged on two separate occasions, Plaintiff Witkowski was awarded $540,700 in back pay and lost benefits, and was awarded $109,300 in compensatory damages for emotional distress for total jury verdict of $650,000. With a successful attorney fee petition, a total monetary judgment against the defendant for this verdict will be over $1.25 million.
