A St. Joseph, Missouri, woman has been awarded $8.5 million in a racial discrimination lawsuit she brought against Missouri gas utility Spire.
The St. Louis Post-Dispatch reports that a St. Louis jury awarded $1.3 million in actual damages and $7.2 million in punitive damages to 47-year-old Danielle McGaughy, who had worked for the utility since 2004.
McGaughy, who is black, sued in 2016, accusing the company of passing her over for promotion for a younger white co-worker who had less education and work experience.
McGaughy’s lawsuit also said she endured a hostile work environment, where co-workers referred to then-President Barack Obama as a monkey.
Spire said in a written statement that it employs a diverse workforce and celebrates differences. The company says it will appeal.
Was this article valuable?
Here are more articles you may enjoy.
Hacking Group Claims Mass Data Theft From Shell, Philips, GE, Fiserv, Others 
Allstate Introduces Large Language Model, ALLIE 
Thoma Bravo to Take Accelerant Private in $4 Billion Deal 
11 New Firms Join Insurance Journal’s Top 100 Independent Agencies 
