A $95 million sexual harassment verdict against Atlanta rent-to-own company Aaron's was found to be "monstrously excessive," and was substantially reduced in a settlement after the alleged attacker was acquitted in a criminal trial.
The original civil award exceeded the maximum amount permitted under federal law by $50 million and was reduced last year to $39.8 million by the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Illinois, where it was filed.
Aaron's announced this week it had settled the suit for $6 million after a separate, criminal jury last September acquitted store manager Richard Moore, who had been accused of sexual harassment.
In the original suit, a former Aaron's employee, whom The Atlanta Journal-Constitution has not identified because she was an alleged victim of sexual assault, said in 2006 that her supervisor assaulted and harassed her, requesting that she perform a sexual act in exchange for gifts. The woman was a customer service representative at an Aaron's location in Illinois. Her civil suit had been ongoing since 2008.
At the time of the original verdict, Aaron's said in a statement that the award and verdict, which found the company liable for negligent supervision, was the result of a "classic runaway jury." In its statement this week, Aaron's said it agreed with the court's description of the award as "monstrously excessive. The company quoted the court as saying "the jury, as to damages in this case, either failed to understand the Court's instructions, intentionally disregarded them or returned a verdict that was the product of passion or prejudice."
Attorneys for Aaron's had no further comment. Attorneys representing the woman were unavailable.
Aaron's took a $36.5 million charge to its bottom line in the second quarter of 2011, in expectation of $41.5 million cost in legal fees and the judgment, minus $5 million of insurance coverage. The company will add $35.5 million back as income in the first quarter of this year as a result of the settlement.
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