On Wednesday, January 27, 2016, a federal jury in New Hampshire ordered Wal-Mart Stores to pay $31.22 million for, among other things, gender discrimination. The jury found that Wal-Mart unlawfully discriminated against a former female pharmacist on the basis of gender in violation of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act, that Wal-Mart unlawfully discriminated against her on the basis of her gender in violation of New Hampshire Discrimination Law, that Wal-Mart wrongfully terminated her employment, and that Wal-Mart violated her rights under New Hampshire's Whistleblower Protection Act. The jury, however, found that Wal-Mart did not unlawfully retaliate against the former pharmacist in regards to her Family and Medical Leave Act claim.

The jury awarded the former pharmacist $164,093.00 in back pay, $558,392.87 in front pay, $500,000.00 in Compensatory Damages, $15,000,000 in Punitive Damages for violation of Title VII, and $15,000,000 in Enhanced Compensatory Damages under New Hampshire law.

While results like these are not typical, it has become obvious that juries are less and less willing to allow companies to get away with what they perceive as discrimination against employees on the basis of sex and gender.

See the article from Reuters on the decision here.