A California jury has ordered Liberty Mutual Insurance Co. to pay $103 mn after finding the insurer violated the California Fair Employment and Housing Act by firing a veteran case manager because of her age.
The verdict includes $20 mn in noneconomic compensatory damages. Jurors later set punitive damages at $83 mn, according to Shegerian & Associates, which represented the plaintiff, Joy Slagel, in a case that stretched back several years.
Slagel spent more than 30 years at Liberty Mutual, building a long record of strong performance inside the claims department. That trajectory shifted after a new regional claims manager arrived in 2012, according to a complaint filed in January 2017.
Over the next 6 years, about six employees in their 50s and 60s resigned or were pushed out. Nearly every employee over 40 either left or was terminated. Out of roughly 120 staff, only two were older than 40.
The complaint describes a pattern of hostile treatment aimed at Slagel. Team-wide issues were blamed on her individually. Colleagues ignored her presence.
Managers singled her out in meetings. In one episode, a supervisor said Slagel had “set the bar too high” while working with Disney, which later complained and asked that manager to step away from its account.
In March 2015, Slagel received her first-ever “needs improvement” review. Later that same year, she earned a customer service award for handling a major client claim. At the ceremony, the regional claims manager said she had “got lucky” and that it “would never happen again.”
By spring 2016, Slagel’s blood pressure worsened, which her complaint ties to the work environment. Her doctor recommended medical leave.
Liberty Mutual approved short-term disability leave running from April 19 to June 29, 2016. During that period, Slagel received a call from her manager saying a courier would collect her laptop. When she asked why, the response was brief.
On June 30, 2016, Slagel returned to the office and found her parking card and access badge disabled. After entering with a visitor pass, she was called into a meeting and terminated on the spot.
The company gave no reason, according to the complaint. She was later replaced by a white male in his late 20s.
At trial, Slagel’s attorneys argued Liberty Mutual fabricated an internal investigation to justify removing older, higher-paid employees. The effort, they said, aimed to silence Slagel rather than address performance.
Justin Shegerian, founder and lead trial attorney at Shegerian & Associates, said the verdict sends a clear signal to employers.
Age discrimination violates the law, harms workers, and juries will enforce accountability when companies cross that line.
