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Baker v. National State Bank6/2/1998
Argued: April 27, l998
On appeal from Superior Court of New Jersey, Law Division, Middlesex County.
Plaintiffs Ann Baker and Barbara Hausleiter, branch managers with defendant, The National State Bank (the Bank), were terminated in a reduction in force in 1991. Defendants Leo Ahern, the Bank's regional manager, and Arthur Campbell, its vice president in charge of branch operations and community banking, were responsible for choosing plaintiffs for dismissal. Defendant New Jersey National Bank, a/k/a Corestates New Jersey National Bank, is the Bank's successor in interest.
Plaintiffs proved during trial that their dismissals were the result of age discrimination (Baker was fifty-four and Hausleiter was forty-nine), and for Baker, also gender discrimination. A jury awarded Baker and Hausleiter compensatory damages which, with interest, totaled $l55,l33.00 and $l28,235.00, respectively, and punitive damages of $4,000,000.00 which plaintiffs agreed to share evenly. Plaintiffs were awarded attorneys' fees and costs which totaled $338,227.45.
Defendants object to various sections of the jury charge, primarily arguing error in the explanation of preponderance of the evidence, and in failing to charge that plaintiffs were required to prove a prima facie case. Defendants further contend that the award of punitive damages was improper, because (1) there was no malicious or willful conduct; (2) the award was inconsistent because it was against the Bank only, and not the individuals; (3) the successor bank should not be liable for punitive damages; and (4) plaintiffs failed to prove the financial condition of the Bank at the time of the wrongdoing. Finally, defendants argue that evidence of the performance of the employees who replaced plaintiffs should not have been admitted, the verdict was against the weight of the evidence, and the award of counsel fees was excessive.
Plaintiffs cross appeal, contending that the hourly rate used for the counsel fee award should have been the current rate, rather than the rate at the time the services were performed. We are satisfied that the issues raised on the appeal and cross-appeal should be rejected and, therefore, affirm.
These are the relevant facts. Ann Baker began working for the Bank in 1973 as a part-time teller. In 1978, Baker became a full-time teller and was promoted to head teller within a year. By l98l, Baker was an assistant branch manager. After completing a management training program, Baker successfully assisted with a difficult merger.
Baker next served as branch manager at Kenilworth for a few months and in August 1985 was transferred to Rahway, which was experiencing serious difficulties in personnel and audits. An audit in November 1985 showed substantial improvement.
Arthur Campbell, regional administrator at that time, occasionally visited Baker's branch and commented that things were going well. He also sent her several memoranda thanking her for her exceptional work.
Terry Busichio became Baker's regional manager while Baker was in Rahway. In June 1988, Busichio wrote to Campbell recommending Baker for a promotion and a raise because her lending authority had increased and she was successfully managing a portfolio of $3.7 million. In March 1989, Busichio evaluated Baker's overall performance as consistently exceeding expectations, noting her branch's success in deposit growth, loan growth, control of expenses, and outstanding audit rating which was the highest possible. Busichio recommended Baker as "capable of taking on more complex assignments."
In early 1989, Busichio transferred Baker to Perth Amboy, a larger branch than R
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