South Carolina Jury Awards Employee $1 Million in Defamation Claim

October 7, 2014

A former Orangeburg, S.C., nursing home employee has won a defamation lawsuit against his former employer.

Ralph C. Williams Sr., 58, has been awarded $1 million after being cleared of charges that he sexually assaulted a resident at the Orangeburg home, The Times and Democrat of Orangeburg reported.

Williams was awarded nearly $900,000 in punitive damages and about $100,000 in actual damages.

Court records show the jury ruled against UniHealth Post Acute Care LLC and two employees at the home. The company is to pay $600,000 of the total.

Williams had been charged with third-degree criminal sexual conduct and abuse of a vulnerable adult in 2010. His attorney, Java Warren, said the sexual conduct charge was dropped and a jury cleared him on the abuse charge in 2012.

“We are satisfied with the jury’s verdict,” Williams’ attorney Java Warren said. “We felt like justice was served.”

Attorneys for the nursing home could not be reached for comment.

Topics South Carolina

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