On September 12, 2024, a Yakima, Washington jury awarded a $237.6 million nuclear verdict to Tahvio Gratton, a former package delivery driver who filed a lawsuit against his employer for violation of federal and state statutes that protect workers from discriminatory treatment and retaliation.  

Gratton, who is African American, alleged that after being transferred to Yakima, his supervisors began treating him differently from his white peers by acting short with him, ignoring him, speaking down to him, and providing him with fewer opportunities to work. Gratton claimed he reported this conduct to higher-level managers in the company; however, it allegedly resulted in further disparaging, inflammatory and racist remarks. Gratton alleged he filed additional complaints, which only resulted in his supervisors overloading him with work and humiliating him in front of co-workers and customers. Ultimately, the company terminated Gratton’s employment on October 19, 2021.

Gratton’s employer claimed it fired him, following a neutral investigation, for inappropriately touching a female coworker’s hip while she was bent over. Gratton, however, argued the allegations and investigation were used pretextually to justify his firing. 

Prior to trial, the company moved for summary judgment on the basis that Gratton had insufficient evidence to support his statutory claims. The court agreed that Gratton had failed to make out a claim for discrimination and a hostile work environment. However, it declined to dismiss Gratton’s claims for retaliation and wrongful termination. When reaching this conclusion, the court cited to the Ninth Circuit’s emphasis on the “importance of zealously guarding an employee’s right to a full trial, since discrimination claims are frequently difficult to prove without a full airing of the evidence and an opportunity to evaluate the credibility of the witnesses.” (citing McGinest v. GTE Serv. Corp., 360 F.3d 1103, 1112 (9th Cir. 2004)).

After the trial, Gratton’s attorney thanked the jury for “sending a powerful message” in the form of a $238 million verdict ($39.6 million for emotional distress along with $198 million in punitive damages). These “powerful messages” to corporations are being sent more frequently than ever before—in the form of nuclear verdicts. A recent study authored by Shook Partner Cary Silverman and Senior Counsel Christopher E. Appel showed that between 2013 and 2022, there were 47 nuclear verdicts in Washington accounting for over $2 billion in verdicts. While more than half of these nuclear verdicts originated from King County and involved non-employment cases, Gratton’s case against his employer demonstrates that no case or county in Washington is immune. So long as the Ninth Circuit is “zealously guarding” employees’ rights to a “full trial,” there will only be more opportunities for these types of nuclear verdicts. Thus, employment lawyers—now more than ever—must be prepared with a comprehensive and thoughtful defense strategy, which accounts for extraordinary damages asks and trial tactics that play on juror psychology, including fear and anger. 

Gratton’s employer has indicated that it intends to appeal the verdict based on evidentiary and legal errors.