Schnader Wins New Trial, Damages Limits in Flagship Corp. Case

Last summer, a jury in federal court in New Jersey returned a verdict after a two-week trial in favor of three former employees of Flagship Corporation, awarding them more than $4 million in lost wages, damages for emotional distress and punitive damages, for a violation of the federal Employee Polygraph Protection Act, which prohibits employees from being discharged or retaliated against for refusing to take a polygraph test. Recently, the District Court of New Jersey issued a 30-page opinion granting Schnader’s motion for a new trial and sharply limiting damages that the plaintiffs could recover on re-trial, including rulings that the evidence would not support punitive damages at all, and that the lost wage and emotional distress damage awards were grossly excessive.  The Schnader team working on the appeal included Judge Arlin Adams, Nancy Winkelman, Bruce Merenstein and Harris Feldman.