Case Results of Rebecca Elise Ary

Ms. Ary represented the claimant (employee) in an arbitration against her former employer.  The employer was represented by three attorneys at the largest employment law firm in the country.  The employee was temporarily disabled after surgery and required more than 12 weeks of leave.  Without telling the employee (in violation of its own policy), the employer began recruiting for her replacement shortly after her 12th week of leave.  Her replacement was hired days before she was cleared to return to work.  Her replacement was scheduled to begin work the day AFTER the claimant could have returned to work.  The employer reassigned the claimant to a PRN (as needed) position which offered no work hours.  The employee quit as a result.  The employer argued that continuing to hold the claimant's position open posed an undue hardship because of difficulty scheduling short-term coverage.  The arbitrator, repeatedly referring to it as "a close case," ruled in favor of the claimant on the state and federal claims for failure to accommodate and awarded claimant over $320,000.

Ms. Ary (and co-counsel) represented an employee in a Title VII race discrimination and retaliation case against Qwest. The jury returned a verdict for her client for over half a million dollars: $157,693 (the full amount requested) for lost wages, $275,963 for emotional distress, and $100,000 for punitive damages.  After reducing punitive damages to the statutory maximum and adding attorneys' fees, costs, and interest, the final judgment totaled over $760,000. See, Clemens v. Qwest, No. 2:13-cv-01793 (W.D.Wash. 2014).   Qwest appealed to the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals, and Ms. Ary's client cross-appealed.  Ms. Ary's client won both the appeal and the cross-appeal.  The Court's decision on the cross-appeal created new law in the 9th Circuit, holding that victims of discrimination or retaliation may be entitled under Title VII to an additional award to offset the adverse tax consequences of receiving multiple years of back pay in one lump sum.  See, Clemens v. Qwest, 874 F.3d 1113 (9th Cir. 2017).  The case ultimately settled for over $925,000.