A Philadelphia jury has returned a $1.7 million verdict – $1.5 million of which was a punitive damages award – in favor of a woman who claimed she was fired after reporting to company leaders that she believed her manager was engaged in drug activity and that he brought his daughter to a facility where convicted child predators were required to report.
The plaintiff’s legal team reported that the unanimous, eight-person jury came back last Friday night after a five-day trial with a damages award of $1.7 million against The Kintock Group, a nonprofit organization providing transition services to ex-convicts. According to the verdict sheet, the jury awarded $77,988 in back pay, $100,000 for pain and suffering and the rest in punitive damages. The plaintiff, Marla Pietrowski, made about $44,000 a year. The case was tried in front of Philadelphia Court of Common Pleas Judge Annette M. Rizzo.
