Plaintiff’s Victory in Race Discrimination Suit is Put on Hold
A three-judge panel of the Louisiana 1st Circuit Court of Appeals has decided not to grant former University of Louisiana-Lafayette football coach Jerry Baldwin the $2 million verdict he was previously awarded by District Court Judge Don Johnson of Baton Rouge.
Baldwin initially brought suit against his former employer, UL-Lafayette, claiming he was fired from his job as head coach on account of racial discrimination. Baldwin is African American.
In their most recent opinion, the 1st Circuit explicitly cited problems with the lower court’s handling of jury selection as the main reason for dismissing Baldwin’s awarded damages. Specifically, the Circuit Court pointed to District Judge Johnson’s refusal to entertain the Defendant University’s request to dismiss a black juror, who claimed that she had once been the victim of racial discrimination by her white supervisor. The Defendant University’s attorneys attempted to exclude the specific juror, fearing her experiences might unfairly form a bias in favor of Baldwin. The District Judge disagreed, choosing instead to side with the Plaintiffs, who accused the Defendant of attempting to unlawfully exclude the juror purely on racial grounds.
The Circuit Court held that the decision to retain the juror may have had an unfair effect on the ultimate verdict, and decided Baldwin is currently not entitled to his monetary award. Baldwin’s attorneys will attempt to have the Appeals Court reconsider its ruling, and if unsuccessful, may decide to take the case back to trial.
