On April, 2008, the California Court of Appeal, First District, affirmed a jury’s finding of race and/or gender discrimination against Sybase, Inc. and the compensatory damage award of $1,342,943 to Sybase’s former employee, Marietta Harvey.  The Court of Appeal also reinstated the jury’s punitive damages award of $500,000.  The jury had awarded punitive damages after finding that Sybase’s conduct in terminating Ms. Harvey demonstrated malice, fraud, and/or oppression.  The trial judge had reversed the jury’s punitive damage award, but the Court of Appeal ruled that the trial court’s action doing so was erroneous.

Marietta Harvey, the plaintiff, was originally from the Phillippines.  She worked in the Human Resources Department of Sybase, Inc. beginning in 1999.  She rose to become the only “Group Director” in Human Resources, second in command to Nita White Ivy (also from the Phillippines), the Vice President of Human Resources. She received consistently exceptional job reviews over the years.   In February of 2003, for reasons unclear to Ms. Harvey, she was fired from Sybase, Inc.  

The case was tried to a jury in the fall of 2004.  After hearing evidence at trial that Sybase’s CEO had commented that the Human Resources Department  “looked like an airport,” and that Ms. White-Ivy had repeatedly stated that her department needed more white males, the jury found that Ms. Harvey’s termination was motivated by race or gender discrimination in violation of California law.  In ruling on appeals by both Sybase and Ms. Harvey, the Court of Appeal held that this evidence was sufficient to support both the compensatory award for lost earnings and the punitive damage award based on malice.

Ms. Harvey was represented at trial by David J. Becht and Barbara R. Adams of Adams ∣ Nye ∣ Trapani ∣ Becht  LLP of San Francisco, California and on appeal by Bruce Nye of the same firm.  Sybase was represented at trial by Fred W. Alvarez of Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati and Theodora Lee of Littler Mendelson, and on appeal by Paul D. Fogel of Reed Smith LLP.

Media Contact
Bruce Nye
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Case Name: Harvey v. Sybase, Inc.
Docket Number: A109300
The Court's Opinion is here: http://www.courtinfo.ca.gov/opinions/documents/A109300.PDF

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