Summary
In Murphy v. American Motors Sales Corp., 570 F.2d 1226 (5th Cir. 1978), Dean v. American Security Ins. Co., 559 F.2d 1036 (5th Cir. 1977), and Hannon v. Continental Nat'l Bank, 427 F.Supp. 215 (D.Colo.1977), the courts concluded that punitive damages were not recoverable under ADEA. Hannon and Dean as well as Rogers v. Exxon Research & Eng. Co., 550 F.2d 834 (3rd Cir. 1977) all hold that damages for emotional distress or pain and suffering are not recoverable under ADEA.
Summary of this case from Riddle v. Getty Refining and Marketing Co.Opinion
Nos. 76-2718 and 76-2772.
April 4, 1978.
Charles H. Kirbo, Charles M. Shaffer, Jr., Atlanta, Ga., for defendant-appellant.
Vincent W. Roses, Jr., L. Burke Lewis, Atlanta, Ga., for plaintiffs-appellees.
Robert E. Williams, Washington, D.C., for amicus curiae Equal Employment Advisory Council.
Appeals from the United States District Court, Northern District of Georgia.
American Motors Sales Corporation has brought this interlocutory appeal from the trial court's ruling that an individual who brings a private action under the Age Discrimination in Employment Act of 1967, 29 U.S.C. § 621, et seq. (ADEA), is entitled to recover punitive damages and to a trial by jury.
In Dean v. American Sec. Ins. Co., 559 F.2d 1036 (5th Cir. 1977), we definitively held that punitive damages are not recoverable in a private action brought under ADEA.
It is now settled that in such an action a trial by jury on a claim for lost wages is available where sought by one of the parties. Lorillard v. Pons, ___ U.S. ___, 98 S.Ct. 866, 55 L.Ed.2d 40 (1978).
The trial court's order overruling appellant's motion to strike the jury demand is affirmed; its order overruling appellant's motion to strike the prayer for punitive damages is reversed.
AFFIRMED IN PART.
REVERSED AND REMANDED IN PART.