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Attorneys for The Source magazine's sexual harassment trial were back in court today (October 31), but this time it was over the controversy concerning the actual dollar amount the jury awarded Kim Osorio, the magazine's former editor-in-chief.
Ken Thompson and Doug Wigdor, the attorneys for Osorio, intended to seek a dollar amount for the punitive damages that the jury decided Osorio was entitled to, in addition to the $15.5 million in compensatory damages. But according to Judge Jed S. Rakoff, not only will Osorio not be getting more money, but the reported $15.5 million thought to be awarded to her will likely be cut in half.
Though it was originally reported that Osorio would receive $15.5 million, that amount was called into question by the defense counsel. According to attorneys for Raymond "Benzino" Scott, Dave Mays and The Source, the verdict was for only $8 million. That is, $3.5 million against Benzino for defamation, $4 million for retaliation from Benzino, Mays and The Source jointly, not each -- which was the cause of the confusion -- and $500,000 for lost wages, rounding the verdict out to $8 million.
Thompson appealed to the court to call in the jury's foreman to clarify the jury's intent. "We'll never be able to know the truth if we don't go to the jury," he said.
But Judge Rakoff said he understood the verdict the same way the defense counsel had interpreted it. "To me, it's an open and shut question," Judge Rakoff said. "An $8 million verdict ... That's a huge verdict on the facts of this case."
That huge verdict is the reason Judge Rakoff struck punitive damages when the jury had initially decided to award them. The judge said the large compensatory damages awarded would serve the same purposes as punitive damages. If the jury had actually meant to return a $15.5 million award, Judge Rakoff said, "that would have been absurd and clearly unwarranted."
Thompson replied by stating if a larger amount for compensatory damages was in fact what the jury intended, the truth should be heard. Thompson also asked if it was a mistake, then why has the misunderstanding gone on for nearly a week and why had the $15.5 million verdict been so widely reported in media outlets across the country.
"If the jury didn't intend to award $15.5 million, I think one of those jurors would have called the court," Thompson told Judge Rakoff.
After the hearing, Mercedes Colwin, the attorney for the magazine told SOHH she was taken aback when she first heard the verdict reported.
"I started reading all the reports and I said, 'Wait a minute, what's going on here?" Colwin said.
Judge Rakoff agreed to consider calling the jury back to clarify the compensatory damages, though he said he was heavily leaning against it.
For The Source, though, this is already a victory.
"We definitely feel vindicated," Source executive vice president Julie Als told SOHH. "We were found not guilty of sexual harassment and not guilty of (providing) a hostile work environment."
Judge Rakoff said he would fax his decision to the attorneys by the end of the day today.
Source: sohh.com
Ken Thompson and Doug Wigdor, the attorneys for Osorio, intended to seek a dollar amount for the punitive damages that the jury decided Osorio was entitled to, in addition to the $15.5 million in compensatory damages. But according to Judge Jed S. Rakoff, not only will Osorio not be getting more money, but the reported $15.5 million thought to be awarded to her will likely be cut in half.
Though it was originally reported that Osorio would receive $15.5 million, that amount was called into question by the defense counsel. According to attorneys for Raymond "Benzino" Scott, Dave Mays and The Source, the verdict was for only $8 million. That is, $3.5 million against Benzino for defamation, $4 million for retaliation from Benzino, Mays and The Source jointly, not each -- which was the cause of the confusion -- and $500,000 for lost wages, rounding the verdict out to $8 million.
Thompson appealed to the court to call in the jury's foreman to clarify the jury's intent. "We'll never be able to know the truth if we don't go to the jury," he said.
But Judge Rakoff said he understood the verdict the same way the defense counsel had interpreted it. "To me, it's an open and shut question," Judge Rakoff said. "An $8 million verdict ... That's a huge verdict on the facts of this case."
That huge verdict is the reason Judge Rakoff struck punitive damages when the jury had initially decided to award them. The judge said the large compensatory damages awarded would serve the same purposes as punitive damages. If the jury had actually meant to return a $15.5 million award, Judge Rakoff said, "that would have been absurd and clearly unwarranted."
Thompson replied by stating if a larger amount for compensatory damages was in fact what the jury intended, the truth should be heard. Thompson also asked if it was a mistake, then why has the misunderstanding gone on for nearly a week and why had the $15.5 million verdict been so widely reported in media outlets across the country.
"If the jury didn't intend to award $15.5 million, I think one of those jurors would have called the court," Thompson told Judge Rakoff.
After the hearing, Mercedes Colwin, the attorney for the magazine told SOHH she was taken aback when she first heard the verdict reported.
"I started reading all the reports and I said, 'Wait a minute, what's going on here?" Colwin said.
Judge Rakoff agreed to consider calling the jury back to clarify the compensatory damages, though he said he was heavily leaning against it.
For The Source, though, this is already a victory.
"We definitely feel vindicated," Source executive vice president Julie Als told SOHH. "We were found not guilty of sexual harassment and not guilty of (providing) a hostile work environment."
Judge Rakoff said he would fax his decision to the attorneys by the end of the day today.
Source: sohh.com