Appeals Court Affirms That IBM Fired Manager For Reporting Racial Discrimination and Upholds Multi-Million Dollar Award

SEATTLE, Aug. 4, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit affirmed on Monday that Scott Kingston, who won a jury verdict against IBM last year for wrongful termination after he accused the company of racial bias, had proven his case and is entitled to economic damages totaling $5 million (along with attorneys' fees and other damages of three million dollars). Kingston is represented by Milberg attorneys Matthew E. Lee, Mark R. Sigmon, and Jeremy Williams, along with Toby Marshall of the Terrell Marshall Law Group.

Kingston, a longtime sales manager at IBM, was fired by the company in 2018 for alleged gross incompetence. But Kingston claimed he was fired in retaliation for voicing concerns that IBM had, in an apparent act of racial discrimination, capped the sales commission of a black salesman while awarding uncapped commissions to a white salesman. Kingston sued IBM, claiming that IBM has an internal policy against capping commissions and that his termination violated Washington State law.

A jury awarded Kingston $11.1 million in April 2021, which included $5.1 million in economic damages and $6 million in noneconomic damages, and the court awarded almost $3 million more in attorneys' fees and other damages. IBM appealed to the Ninth Circuit, arguing that there was no evidence it fired Scott in retaliation for his complaints about the black employee's reduced commissions. The court rejected that argument, finding that the jury reasonably inferred that "Kingston was opposing or reporting what he believed to be employer misconduct in the form of race discrimination and withholding of earned wages" and that his opposition activity, which was known by IBM decisionmakers, was "a substantial factor" in the company's decision to fire him.

While the court did vacate the $6 million non-economic damage award and order that it be reduced in some amount, Kingston will ask the trial court to award most of that amount again. Most importantly, the jury, the trial court, and now the appellate court have all found that IBM fired Kingston for complaining about race discrimination at IBM. Furthermore, the appellate ruling is in line with a string of past cases in which Milberg attorneys have established that IBM violated its own policy and wrongly reduced salespersons' commissions.

"IBM fired Scott Kingston for calling out IBM's racism and wage theft; that's now judicially established," said attorney Matthew E. Lee in a press statement. "We're pleased that the Ninth Circuit, like our jury, saw through IBM's dissembling, smoke, and mirrors. Over the last several years, IBM, once held up as a paragon of ethics and professionalism, often finds itself in headlines alongside the word 'discrimination.' We trust that this verdict and opinion have sent a powerful message to IBM that this type of unethical behavior is unacceptable in this day and age."

For over 50 years, Milberg and its affiliates have been fighting to protect victims' rights and have recovered over $50 billion for clients. A pioneer in class action litigation, Milberg is widely recognized as a leader in defending the rights of victims of corporate wrongdoing.

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SOURCE Milberg Coleman Bryson Phillips Grossman PLLC