By John Flynn Rooney
Law Bulletin staff writer
The Illinois Supreme Court on Wednesday allowed a more than $3 million award to stand in favor of a former sales manager at a Chicago television station.
Jerri Blount maintained she was fired for supporting another employee’s discrimination claim. A Cook County Circuit Court jury awarded Blount more than $3 million, and the jury’s verdict was upheld most recently by the 1st District Appellate Court in June 2009.
The jury award included $2.8 million in punitive damages. Blount’s lawyers were later awarded nearly $1.2 million in attorneys’ fees.
The defendants, Jovon Broadcasting Corp. and its owner, Joseph Stroud, asserted in a petition for leave to appeal that the jury’s punitive damages award was constitutionally excessive, referring to the U.S. Supreme Court’s ruling in State Farm Mut. Auto Ins. Co. v. Campbell, 538 U.S. 408 (2003).
The lawsuit brought by Blount against Stroud and the company that ran WJYS Channel 62 in Chicago, has bounced between the 1st District and Supreme Court in recent years. Blount worked at Jovan Broadcasting from 1993 to 2000. In her highest position, she was a sales manager earning $250,000 annually to sell infomercial time on Channel 62.
Justice Anne M. Burke took no part in Wednesday’s action. The case is Jerri Blount v. Joseph Stroud, et al., No. 109370.
Jerold S. Solovy, Michael T. Brody and John Charles Roberts Jr. of Jenner & Block LLP represented Jovon in its most recent petition before the high court.
Chicago lawyers Robin B. Potter of Robin Potter & Associates P.C. and Martin A. Dolan of Dolan Law Offices P.C. represented Blount.
Among the other cases the Supreme Court declined to hear Wednesday were:
- A petition seeking resolution of a conflict between the appellate districts as to whether the spouse of an intoxicated person can recover damages under the Dram Shop Act. Janet Adams v. Suburban Wet Goods-LaSalle LLC, d/b/a The Last Resort, No. 109316.
- A petition to review a 1st District Appellate Court decision holding that a coin-operated laundry that didn’t completely follow its rainy-day policy to warn customers of wet conditions isn’t liable for the injury suffered by a woman whose fall was caused by a natural accumulation of water. The plaintiff’s petition maintained that review by the high court was necessary to resolve a conflict between the appellate districts over the analysis used in premises liability cases. Oletha Reed v. Galaxy Holdings, Inc., etc., No. 109354.
- An appeal asking the Supreme Court to decide whether an appeals panel was wrong to reverse a jury verdict because one juror expressed reservation but signed the verdict form anyway. In its petition for leave to appeal, Automated Ingredient Systems LLC asserted that the 1st District Appellate Court violated its right to a jury trial when it reversed the Cook County Circuit Court, which had entered a verdict in favor of AIS and against Fermin Herrera. Fermin Herrera v. Automated Ingredient Systems, LLC, No. 109459.
The Supreme Court accepted 12 petitions for leave to appeal on Wednesday. The justices denied outright 223 petitions — 152 in criminal matters and 71 in civil cases. The high court also denied another nine petitions with supervisory orders in seven criminal matters and two civil cases.