Vietnam vet awarded $775k for stress from ex-employer's 'joke'.
John Ellis The Fresno Bee
Originally Published: 2007-08-10
It was meant to be a joke when an employee at Lithia Ford of Fresno crafted posters depicting four former co-workers -- who had left for a rival auto dealership -- as traitors and backstabbers.
William Dozier, a Vietnam veteran, says it was the posters, faxed to his new employer, that triggered memories of the war and sent him into a tailspin of alcohol abuse, terror and isolation.
A lawsuit resulted, and this week an arbitrator awarded Dozier $775,000 in damages.
Howard Broadman, a retired Tulare County Superior Court judge, awarded far less to the other three defendants -- $1,000 each to Gary Brown, Demus Huesca and Steve Kelly.
"Lithia defamed them after they left, which caused mental anguish to the plaintiffs," said their Fresno attorney, Warren Paboojian.
Lithia argued that the posters had nothing to do with Dozier's distress.
Robert Sacks, director of community relations for Lithia Motors Inc., said the company will appeal Broadman's decision. He declined to comment further.
The decision names not only Lithia Ford of Fresno, but also Mike Leal, an employee who created the posters. Leal could not be reached to comment, and his Fresno attorney, Jerry Mann, did not return a phone call.
Broadman's 11-page decision found the posters "were meant to harm, embarrass, and humiliate former employees ... the posters were defamatory."
But he denied the four plaintiffs' request for punitive damages. "There is no evidence of malice, oppression or fraud," he wrote.
The written decision focused largely on Dozier and whether the posters triggered his post-traumatic stress disorder.
According to the arbitrator's decision, two posters were created in April 2005, posted at Lithia and later sent to Future Ford of Clovis, where the four men had gone to work.
An alcoholic who had been sober for 15 years, Dozier was "angered and humiliated" by the posters, the arbitrator wrote. He began to drink, resulting in a downward spiral that culminated in his hospitalization in September 2006.
He was then diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder. A Veterans Affairs psychiatrist who treated Dozier testified that the "wanted poster" triggered the disorder.
"He was a sniper for the U.S. government in Vietnam," Paboojian said. "There were wanted posters out for him by the Viet Cong. He saw that and reflected back to his times in Vietnam."
Another doctor testified that the poster could not have triggered Dozier's post-traumatic stress disorder, but Broadman discounted that testimony because the doctor did not examine Dozier and based his opinion on medical reports.
Dozier's wife, Karen, testified that her husband would crawl under the bed and scream out, "They're going to kill me" and "Please don't let them find me."
As a result of the post-traumatic stress disorder, the arbitration decision notes, Dozier lost his job and the family home, and his marriage suffered.
Lithia argued that the posters did not trigger the post-traumatic stress disorder. Instead, Lithia argued, the stress of Dozier's promotion at Future Ford as well as the stress of the lawsuit triggered the condition.
Broadman disagreed, saying "the litigation, in general, and the deposition in particular, were likely stressors for Dozier," but that the poster was the trigger for Dozier's post-traumatic stress disorder.
Lithia also said that the posters were an "unauthorized, maverick act" by Leal. Broadman rejected that argument, saying Lithia management condoned the act.
"Everyone was aware of the posters and they were treated as an office joke," Broadman wrote.
