Employment & Labor Law
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Borino v. Publix Supermarkets, Inc.
27 Fla. L. Weekly D1460 (Fla. 4th DCA June 19, 2002)
Appellant plaintiff was awarded a $ 200,000 jury verdict in this defamation case. The trial court granted defendant's post trial motions for directed verdict and new trial. The appellate court reversed and reinstated the jury verdict. The plaintiff had been employed as a stock clerk at Publix for approximately (20) years. In the recent years preceding the lawsuit he had also worked for Delta Airlines, cleaning the cabins of aircraft. The Publix job was much more physically demanding. The employee broke his ankle in a non-work related accident and obtained disability benefits from Publix while he continued to work for Delta. The employer learned of this and terminated the plaintiff for dishonesty. The assistant manager involved in the termination told another employee why the plaintiff had been terminated. This became known to a number of people. The appellate court found that a jury could have found that the plaintiff was not necessarily disabled from working from both employers and that he had done nothing improper. The jury verdict was reinstated.
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