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GENERAL ELECTRIC COMPANY v. GILBERT1/30/2002
This appeal arises from a wrongful-discharge suit. Appellee, Lila Gilbert, was discharged by her former employer, appellant, General Electric Company. A jury found that appellant had wrongfully discharged appellee in violation of the public policy of Arkansas because she was seeking workers' compensation benefits. The jury awarded her $79,525.44, plus unspecified pension benefits. The trial court determined appellee's pension loss to be $1,965.45. Appellant appeals from the denial of its motion for a directed verdict and from the award of damages for pension benefits. We affirm the award of lost wages because the evidence shows that appellee presented a prima facie case of wrongful discharge but the employer did not prove that it had a legitimate, nondiscriminatory basis for her discharge. However, we reverse with regard to the award of pension benefits because appellee did not specifically prove the amount of pension benefits to which she was entitled.
Appellee began working for appellant in 1973. She was diagnosed with carpal-tunnel syndrome and had surgery for the same in 1992. However, she continued to experience problems with her hands after surgery, and required further treatment. She was terminated in 1993 for being absent for ten days without providing a
medical excuse. Appellee eventually settled her workers' compensation claim against appellant for $6,500 in 1995. She filed a suit for wrongful discharge in May 1996. The case proceeded to trial and appellant now appeals from the verdict and award of damages rendered in the subsequent trial.
Appellee began working for appellant in 1973 as an assembly-line worker. In August 1992, she was diagnosed as having carpal-tunnel syndrome in her left hand. At that time, Dr. C.A. McDaniel, an orthopedic doctor, ordered appellee to avoid work involving repetitive motion. In October 1992, she had carpal-tunnel-release surgery performed on that hand. Appellee received workers' compensation benefits, including payment for her medical treatment. After her surgery, a Dr. Jobe returned her to work with a ten-pound weight restriction and noted that she was still experiencing ongoing mild to moderate right carpal-tunnel symptoms. She returned to work wearing splints, but was unable perform the job she had been performing. Appellant moved her to a "winding" position because the work was less repetitive.
Appellee saw Dr. McDaniel again in May 1993. He ordered her to avoid repetitive motion work and heavy lifting until she saw Dr. Wood the following week (Dr. Wood replaced Dr. Jobe). Dr. Wood noted that appellee stated that she worked at a position with the minimal amount of repetitive motion possible at her company. He also ordered her to continue to perform light duty work. In June 1993, appellee still suffered pain in her left hand and arm and was diagnosed with possible carpal-tunnel syndrome in her right hand.
Appellee testified that she told Jean Nall, appellant's union relations specialist, that the winding job was too repetitive, but that Nall indicated that she was unable to move appellee to another position. Appellee continued to work at the winding position although it hurt her hands to do so. Due to difficulty in performing her work tasks, appellee was averaging only 100% of production,
while the rest of her co-workers averaged 129% of production. Richard Krafft, appellee's supervisor, verbally informed her on two occasions that she needed to increase her production. On April 12, 1993, he sent her a letter indicating:
Your output to date has been acceptable on your current job. You have not yet reached the group average after being on your job for several weeks. At the present time,
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