Last night, a federal jury in Greenville ended its deliberations and issued a resounding victory for a former HR manager who worked for BMW in Spartanburg, South Carolina: a verdict against BMW for $100,000 in compensatory damages and $5,000,000 in punitive damages. This case was first filed in federal court in October 2022, so the trial is a culmination of what has been nearly a four year journey for the employee. I was able to observe some of the trial last week and some this week, which I blogged about as well. [Read more: An Afternoon at a Federal Employment Law Trial]
The Legal Claims Against BMW for National Origin Discrimination that Led to this Verdict Against BMW
The employee, Kelly Dawsey, had worked for BMW since 1995, receiving universally good performance reviews throughout her tenure. At the time her employment ended in 2021, Dawsey was working as a Department Manager in HR Planning. In 2018, Dawsey’s manager was a German national. But in 2021, BMW’s president (a German national) decided that Dawsey’s manager would be an American. No big deal, right? Not normally.
Except BMW has a written, color-coded policy that says the hierarchal structure should alternate between an American/local and a German. So in this situation, Dawsey was American. If Dawsey’s new boss was American, then that would make two Americans in a row. BMW wouldn’t allow that, per their policy. So BMW told Dawsey she would be moved to a lesser position, which Dawsey knew was a demotion that would impact the likelihood of any other higher level role with the company. BMW replaced Dawsey with a German employee. Based on her demotion, Dawsey resigned and took another job, making less money. This lawsuit followed, based on claims for national origin discrimination, sex discrimination, and race discrimination.
BMW argued, primarily, that Dawsey did not suffer an “adverse employment action” from BMW. An adverse employment action is something impacts the terms and conditions of employment. Demotions, suspensions, terminations, and changes in pay/benefits are some examples. BMW argued that Dawsey resigned voluntarily before the demotion took effect and thus could not be found to have suffered any adverse employment actions, at least not based on a mere announcement of the demotion to come. However, the Supreme Court ruled in 2024 that the harm suffered by the employee “need not have been significant,” which reversed a trend of cases that made it extremely difficult for employees to enforce their rights under federal law. [Read More: U.S. Supreme Court: Lateral Transfers Can Be Discriminatory]
Obviously, the jury disagreed, to the tune of a verdict against BMW for $5.1 million dollars.
What Happens Next?
Unfortunately, that $5.1 million verdict against BMW likely does not STAY at $5.1 million. The jury found for Dawsey only under the national origin discrimination claim pursuant to Title VII of the Civil Rights Act. Title VII has “caps on damages” for claims brought under that statute, based on the employer’s number of employees. Since BMW has more than 500 employees, then the cap that applies is $300,000. So the judge will have to reduce that $5.1 million down to $300,000.
But Dawsey has other damages that can still be awarded that are not subject to the cap, including “actual damages,” which are lost wages and lost benefits primarily. Dawsey’s attorney, Greenville’s Brian Murphy, will also petition the court for his costs and attorney’s fees. Given the length of the case overall and the length of the trial, I would expect the attorney’s fee petition to be at least several hundred thousand dollars, based on the number of hours spent by counsel in bringing and trying the case.
Of course, BMW had at least half a dozen lawyers working this case, so BMW’s own cost of defense is almost certainly well north of that number.
Takeaways for South Carolina Employees (Maybe Especially BMW Employees—Call Me)
BMW is one of the largest employers in South Carolina, with well over 10,000 employees. BMW has political connections, money, and power.
But what this jury verdict shows is that the rule of law still applies. It matters. Corporations are subject to anti-discrimination laws like Title VII for a reason: to allow employees across the nation to work and perform their best efforts without interference from a company’s biases, bigotries, and discriminatory intent. Title VII prohibits discrimination on the basis of national origin, which means it doesn’t matter whether you are from America, Germany, or any other country. What matters only is whether you do the work well. Period.
Juries are made up of members of our community for a similar reason. They represent our values, our common sense, and our desire for every person to have a fair shake. Whatever the final number turns out to be for Mrs. Dawsey, I suspect BMW will be more careful in its actions in the future. That’s the power of a jury verdict.
Congratulations again to Brian Murphy for his excellent advocacy and representation of employees in South Carolina!
And if you are a South Carolina employee facing discrimination in the workplace, including based on your national origin, please feel free to call our office at 864-278-5389 or reach out via our Contact Us form.
