Significant Cases Winer & McKenna, LLP has handled some of the most significant cases in the Bay Area and California. A number of the cases have had national implications and have not only resulted in large verdicts and settlements for clients, but also have at times contributed to important changes in our society. Please click here to learn about some of these significant effects in our society. The fact that the results below are listed in order of the amount of money awarded does not mean that the cases with the largest awards or settlements were the most significant. Many of the cases that are included which settled for confidential or relatively lower monetary amounts were very significant, not only for the Plaintiff but for consumers in general. Please Click here to read more. The results of the cases below were based on the facts of the particular case and results will differ if based on different facts. Please read the Disclaimer below before viewing the information provided here. $6,800,000- 4 Young Boys Were Sexually Molested By A Male Teacher At Their Elementary School. Plaintiffs were four boys who were sexually abused by their fourth grade teacher. The perpetrator-teacher (a male) taught at the defendant School District from 1997-1999. During that time, he molested two of the plaintiffs who were in his fourth grade class. The teacher left the school district in June 1999 and gained employment at another school district in September. In January 2000, several boys in his fourth grade class complained of improper touching by the teacher. $5,000,000 – Bad Faith Termination of Disability Insurance Benefits to Severely Disabled Former Dentist Plaintiff was a former dentist who could no longer perform his substantial and material duties due to partial blindness and loss of sensation in his hands and fingers. Plaintiff had two disability insurance policies with defendant insurer: one that guaranteed a lifetime of disability benefits should he ever become disabled from performing the substantial and material duties of a dentist; and one that would cover his business overhead expenses should he become disabled from performing these duties.   $4,461,636.40 -- Judgment in Sexual Harassment Case Against FedEx Two employees who alleged that they were sexually harassed by a co-worker brought a case against FedEx. The case resulted in a total verdict of $2,328,000, plus an award of attorney fees and costs, raising the total judgment to $4,461,636.40. View 2006 Consumer Attorney of the Year - Awards Finalist   $3,400,000 - Two Female Employees to Settle Verbal Harassment and Intimidation Case Against National Cosmetics Company Plaintiffs were 2 female employees. who worked in the service and delivery departments of a large cosmetic company.   $3,279,463.60 -- Judgment In Favor Of Family In Elder Abuse Case Against Nursing Home   $2,750,000 -- Ten-Year-Old Girl Raped by 28-Year-Old Actor at a Theater Company A ten-year-old girl attended a theater school on a daily basis after her elementary school day ended. One day she was alone in the locker room at the theater company after a rehearsal when a 28-year-old man, who had just had one of his scripts turned down by the theater company, cornered her in the locker room, took her to a secluded large closet and brutally raped her, causing severe psychological damage.   $2,490,000 -- Three Women Sexually Harassed by Supervisors at Large Rental Company   $2,328,000 -- Verdict in Sexual Harassment Case Against FedEx WINER, McKENNA & DAVIS represented two women who were sexually harassed by a co-worker at the FedEx Sunnyvale, California station.   $2,300,000 -- Two Women Who Were Sexually Harassed While Working at FedEx.   $2,000,000- Medical Malpractice Against A Woman Caused Her to Suffer a Catastrophic Stroke After Delivering Triplets Plaintiff was a woman in her late 30’s whose doctor failed to properly diagnose her medical condition after she delivered triplets. Due to the failure to diagnose, she suffered a catastrophic stroke resulting in partial paralysis and brain damage. This case settled for the full insurance policy limits available. $2,000,000 -- Two Filipino and Two Hispanic Employees Were Discriminated Against Based on Race and Nationality Retaliated Against by a Large Southern California Retail Company This case involved two Filipino and two Hispanic employees 2 males and 2 females who claimed that their employer first discriminated against them and then retaliated against them once the employees brought claims of discrimination.   $2,000,000 - 30-Year-Old Woman Sexually Abused by Psychologist at Southern California Outpatient Treatment Facility Plaintiff was a 30-year-old woman who was referred to a psychologist due to her chronic leg pain not responding to traditional physical treatment modalities. Defendant was a specialist in treating patients with physical disorders.   $2,000,000 -- Three Women Who Were Sexually Harassed During Physical Exams by a Company Doctor Plaintiffs in this case were three young women who were employees of defendant hospital. As part of their yearly physicals, they had to be examined by a male doctor who was on staff at the hospital. Plaintiffs alleged that the doctor sexually harassed them by inappropriately touching them during the physical examinations. They retained Winer, McKenna and Davis.     $1,900,000 -- Sexually Harassed/Abused Male Students Obtain Settlement Against School   $1,860,000- Teenage girls sexually abused by their volleyball coach 2 girls were sexually abused by their volleyball coach at school and on a private volleyball team. The volleyball coach manipulated the young girls into trusting him and befriending him. He then got them addicted to drugs and engaged in sexual relations with them for an extended period of time. $1,725,000 - Employees Settle Race and Gender Discrimination Case Plaintiffs were several female employees who claimed gender discrimination and a combination of male and female employees who claimed discrimination based on the fact that they were Hispanic. They wall worked for a large transportation company. Several of the plaintiffs were truck drivers who alleged that as women and/or Hispanics they were given inferior routes and had to perform more heavy labor than their male counterparts. Another plaintiff worked in the front office and claimed that she was paid substantially less than a male counterpart who performed the exact same functions.     $1,566,000 -- Woman Mis-prescribed Drugs and Sexually Abused by Her Psychiatrist, Internist and Priest     $1,500,000 – Bad Faith Denial of Disability Insurance Benefits to Disabled Firefighter Plaintiff was a former firefighter who was ordered by his doctor to stop working in his field due to increasingly severe heart problems. He had suffered two myocardial infarctions in one year and was at risk for developing congestive heart failure.    $1,500,000 -- Five Newspaper Boys Molested by Employee of Newspaper   $1,450,000 -- Men Bring Disability and Racial Discrimination Case Against a Large Machinery Company Plaintiffs were four men who worked for a large machinery company. Their positions within the company varied from sales to service. They claimed that they were subjected to a hostile work environment and were subjected to abuse and discrimination by a tyrannical manager of the company.   $1,423,000 - Female Patient Wins $1,423,000 in a Physical and Sexual Abuse Case Against her Psychotherapist Plaintiff, a young woman in her early 20s who had a very disturbed childhood, began treating with a female psychologist she met at a counseling center. Over time, the psychologist inappropriately engaged plaintiff in a personal, sexual relationship which culminated in a fight in which the therapist attacked plaintiff, and then used her authority to have plaintiff arrested and criminal charges brought against her.     $1,250,000 -- Three Women Bring Gender Discrimination and Sexual Harassment Case Against National Company Selling Home Products   $1,225,000 - Two Female Prison Guards Alleging Sexual Harassment by the Warden of Their Prison Plaintiffs alleged that the warden at a prison where they worked verbally sexually harassed them on a frequent basis. When plaintiffs and another woman finally complained the investigation took almost a year to complete, despite the fact that California law mandates a prompt and reasonable investigation.     $1,100,000 -- Seven Waitresses Bring Sexual Harassment Case Against Restaurant This case involved seven young women in their early twenties who were working part-time as waitresses. Each of the women claimed to be subjected to varying degrees of sexual harassment from the male cooks at the restaurant. They alleged the cooks would frequently make catcalls at them, and made crude and offensive sexual remarks. The women further claimed these men would touch them often and without reason on their hands and arms. Several of the women alleged the cooks would block their passage and slam into them with carts of food. A few of the women stated the cooks had touched their breasts and buttocks.    $1,000,000- Woman sexually abused as a teenager by police officers she worked with This case was brought 25 years after the sexual abuse occurred under a specific California statute that opened up the statute of limitations for 1 year due to the church sex abuse cases. Plaintiff was a teenage Explorer Scout at a police department in Southern California. Two police officers sexually assaulted and abused her, causing life long emotional distress and damages.     $1,000,000 -- Female Locomotive Engineer sues Employer for Sex Discrimination, Retaliation and a Hostile Work Environment.     $1,000,000 – Bad Faith Denial of Disability Insurance Benefits to Schizophrenic Former Artist Plaintiff was formerly an artist with a very successful business. He had a large, very affluent clientele who would purchase from him regularly. In approximately 1998, however, Plaintiff began suffering from debilitating hallucinations and paranoid delusions, and had recurrent suicidal ideation. By 1999 Plaintiff was diagnosed with schizophrenia. At this point he was admitted to a psychiatric hospital in Oregon and was taking extremely high doses of anti-psychotic medications on a daily basis. He was no longer capable of taking care of himself or of creating the art that previously made his career.   $950,000 -- Fledgling Actress Has 26-Year Inappropriate Sexual Relationship with Psychiatrist    $900,000 - Young Woman Wins Sex Abuse Case Against Her Psychotherapist and Assault Case Against Her Psychotherapist’s Husband Plaintiff was a woman in her twenties suffering from Attention Deficit Disorder. She sought the treatment of a Northern California psychotherapist. The female psychotherapist ended up in a sexual relationship with the plaintiff. When the psychotherapist’s husband found out about the sexual relationship he entered the patient’s house with a gun, threatening to kill the plaintiff. He was arrested.     $800,000 -- Settlement After a Three Week Trial in a Workplace Sexual Harassment Case   $800,000 -- Four Boys Molested by Pastor in Rural Northern California County   $800,000 - Elderly Disabled Man Wins Disability Discrimination Settlement and Elder Abuse Case Against his Healthcare Provider Plaintiff was a wheelchair-bound, elderly man who alleged that his healthcare providers failed to appropriately address his disability, thus discriminating against him, and further grossly neglected his care by failing to attend to his needs, causing him to become extremely dysfunctional and unable to care for his needs, thus becoming completely dependent on his family.   $800,000 - Female Mortgage Company Employee Wins $800,000 Settlement Based on Verbal Harassment, an Attempted Kiss and Retaliation Plaintiff was a 40 year old employee of a large national mortgage company. She claimed that her work environment became hostile when her supervisor began making inappropriate comments about her looks. One day, when her supervisor came back from a business trip he forced her against a wall and attempted two times to kiss her.   $750,000 – Bad Faith Termination of Disability Insurance Benefits to Disabled Former Nurse Plaintiff, a San Francisco resident, was employed as an operating room nurse for twenty years prior to the onset of bulging discs in her back that prevented her from twisting, bending, or lifting any objects greater than 15 pounds. To treat her constant back pain Plaintiff was required to take a variety of painkilling medications, all of which had serious side effects that kept her from being able to focus, remember details, or think on her feet.   $750,000 – Bad Faith Termination of Disability Insurance Benefits to Former Paralegal with Traumatic Brain Injury Plaintiff was a paralegal for nearly twenty years until he was hit by a car and rendered unconscious. The result of this accident was traumatic brain injury that severely impaired his ability to reason, to think clearly and quickly, and to make decisions. This brain damage and resulting cognitive impairments were objectively verified by several board certified neurosurgeons and documented in MRIs and CT scans.     Confidential Settlement -- 30-Year-Old Laborer Injured at Delivery to Construction Site     $750,000 -- 45-Year-Old Woman Brings Medical Negligence and Sexual Abuse Case Against Psychotherapist and Psychiatric Clinic   Three Children and Mother Alleged Sexual Abuse by Hypnotherapist     $750,000 -- 22-Year-Old Woman Alleges Sexual Abuse at Alcoholic Rehab Facility by Owner Manager and Bank VP       $550,000 – Bad Faith Termination of Disability Insurance Benefits to Former Teacher with Seizure Disorder Plaintiff was an elementary school teacher in Sacramento for fifteen years who at age 40 developed a seizure disorder. She required several brain surgeries that removed entire sections of her brain. Her disorder, coupled with the side effects that resulted from the removal of portions of her brain, rendered Plaintiff unable to continue in her teaching position.    $500,000 Judgment against Pacific Bell for sexual harassment of a male employee by his male supervisor   $500,000 - African American Employees Win Racial Discrimination Lawsuit Plaintiffs were four African American women who were employed by a health service provider. They alleged that they were not treated as well as Caucasian employees and that the president of the company made numerous derogatory racial remarks.   $500,000 - Asian Woman Wins Sexual Harassment Settlement Against Large Computer Company Plaintiff was a 35 year old, foreign-born, married employee of a large computer company. She claimed that her supervisor (from the same country as plaintiff) coerced her into performing oral sex on him on 3 occasions. After the third occasion she became so disgusted that she told her husband about the harassment and a report was made to the company.   $500,000 - Fifteen Year Old Girl Molested by a Doctor at a Hospital Plaintiff was a 15 year old girl who was recovering from a significant brain surgery at a hospital. Plaintiff alleged that a neurosurgeon who was following her recovery molested her two times. Plaintiff reported the first molest to her mother. Her mother reported the molest to the hospital and asked them to make sure that it never happened again. The hospital failed to take appropriate action and the second molest occurred.     $500,000 -- Woman Sues National Corporation for Sexual Harassment by a Division President   $500,000 -- Woman's Psychological Condition Deteriorates as Result of Psychiatrist Malpractice and Abuse   $500,000 -- Four Employees of a Funeral Business Claim Discrimination, Retaliation and Illegal Practices   $500,000 -- Kindergartners Allegedly Molested by Teacher   $500,000 -- Parking Lot Assault and Rape of Two $450,000 -- Woman Brings Sexual Harassment Claim Against Governmental Entity    $425,000 - Three Female and One Male Employee Claim Sexual Harassment Against Nightclub Plaintiffs were 3 waitresses and 1 waiter who worked at a medium-sized nightclub chain. The waitresses alleged that they were sexually harassed by inappropriate sexual comments and come-ons perpetrated by the nightclub managers. The male employee claimed that the managers sexually harassed him by hiring a prostitute to attempt to sexually seduce him while the managers secretly watched and made fun of the employee at his expense.     $400,000 - Female Scientist Wins $400,000 in Sexual Harassment Case Against Her Employer Plaintiff was a scientist in her late 30s working for a medical research company. Shortly after she began her employment one of the executives of the company pursued a romantic relationship with plaintiff. Plaintiff consensually entered into that relationship. However, once the executive began to be abusive within the relationship she extricated herself from the relationship and made it clear that she was not interested in any further contact.   $400,000 -- 40-Year-Old Patient and Employee Sues Doctor for Sexual Harassment     $400,000 -- Male Employee Alleges Sexual Harassment Against Store   $350,000 -- Woman Sexually Harassed by Supervisor at Bank Where She Worked   $350,000 - “Visual” Sexual Harassment Settlement Against a Large Electronics Company Plaintiffs were 2 women, 1 supervisor and 1 administrative assistant, who worked for a large electronics company.   $349,218.99 - Justet v. United Airlines for a disabled worker. (This case was tried by Emile Davis along with other counsel).     $300,000 -- Two Women Sexually Abused by Doctor -- Husband Becomes Angry and Retaliates       $300,000 -- College Student Sexually Abused by Counselor Who Undermines Her Religious Beliefs    $300,000 -- Woman Raped in Sauna at Her Large Apartment Complex       $265,000 -- Woman Wins Settlement in Case Where Therapist Denies Sexual Misconduct   $260,000 -- Two Women Sexually Harassed by Executive of a National Accessory Company     $250,000 -- Settlement in Favor of Male Hispanic Racial/National Origin and Sexual Harassment Victim       $250,000 -- Two Housekeepers Sue Hotel for Sexual Harassment by its General Manager   $250,000 -- Sexual Harassment of Young Woman Clerk at Large Grocery Chain by Supervisor       $235,000 - Female Psychotherapist Sexually Assaults and Falsely Imprisons a Patient Plaintiff was a 40 year old Chinese immigrant. She went to a psychologist when she became depressed. After a short period of therapy defendant psychologist convinced plaintiff to stay in her home, where defendant inappropriately engaged plaintiff in a sexual relationship. After several days, when plaintiff attempted to leave defendant’s home, she locked plaintiff in and would not allow her to leave until plaintiff called the police. When plaintiff did call the police, the defendant told the police that the plaintiff was imagining everything and that she was mentally unstable.     $210,000 -- Racial Discrimination Against National Educational Testing Company   $200,000 -- Disability Discrimination Settlement in Favor of a Young Woman with a Minor Ankle Injury     $200,000 -- Two Waitresses Bring Sexual Harassment Lawsuit Against Restaurant     $200,000 -- Waitress Sues for Sexual Harassment   $200,000 - Two Women Suffer Verbal-Only Sexual Harassment at a Factory Plaintiffs were two women who worked in a male-dominated factory in a fairly rural area of central California. They claimed that despite numerous complaints they were continually subjected to offensive sexual comments.   $200,000 - Sexual Harassment/Invasion of Privacy Case Against Large Retailer Plaintiffs were three young employees of a large retailer. One of the plaintiffs discovered that the store manager had placed a hidden camera in the unisex employee restroom facing the toilet. This was reported to the police who arrested the store manager. The store manager admitted that he did in fact place the camera in the bathroom, but took the position that it was not for any sexual reason, but rather because he was sure that the employees were stealing from him and the camera was placed in the bathroom to catch an employee during the act of theft.   $180,000 -- Middle-aged Man Brings Discrimination Claim Against a National Rental Company   $175,000 -- African-American Employee of Truck Leasing Company Claims Sexual Harassment Plaintiff was an attractive young rental agent of a truck leasing company. She alleged that a co-employee sexually harassed her by continuing to romantically pursue her when she indicated that she was not interested. The employee made frequent sexually provocative comments to plaintiff. In addition, plaintiff claimed that she was discriminated against based on her race. In particular, the owner of the company on occasion made derogatory remarks towards African-Americans, including plaintiff.   $174,000 - Two Women Incur Verbal Sexual Harassment and Gender Discrimination at Auto Dealership. Plaintiffs in this case were two women in their mid-thirties who were employed in the business office at a Sacramento area auto dealership. They alleged that they were treated unequally compared to the men at the dealership and that some of their male co-workers and supervisors used foul language that was often directed at them.     $171,000 - Young Female Attorney in Medium Sized Law Firm Successfully Pursues Sexual Harassment Claim Against Partner Plaintiff was a young, fairly new associate attorney in a medium-sized law firm. As part of her job duties she had to attend an out-of-state seminar with her supervising partner.   $170,000 -- Associate Attorney Sues Law Firm for Sexual Harassment Plaintiff was a young associate attorney in a Central Valley California law firm. Her law firm litigation group was required to attend a seminar in Los Angeles. Plaintiff’s manager insisted that he utilize plaintiff’s hotel room while plaintiff was out to write a speech. Later that night, when plaintiff got into bed, she discovered a sexually provocative and scary note written by her manager.   $160,000 -- Two Women Who Claimed Retaliation For Reports of Sexual Harassment at a Large Fast Food Company.         $150,000 -- Sexual Harassment Case Filed by Employee Who Was Forced to Watch Sexually Explicit DVD’s With Her Boss in a Company Apartment Plaintiff in this case was a woman in her late 20's who worked for a Bay Area high-tech firm that had offices in Los Angeles. The company had an apartment in Los Angeles for Bay Area employees to sleep in when they had to visit the Los Angeles office.    $150,000 - Intern for Television Network Sues for Sexual Harassment Plaintiff was an intern for a large cable television network. During the course of her summer internship, she was sexually pursued by her manager who she alleged eventually sexually assaulted her in a communal shower in a hotel spa.   * The result in the cases above were based on the facts of the particular case, and results will differ if based on different facts. No guarantee, warranty or prediction is being made regarding any particular case or injury.. * No inference is intended regarding the dollar amount of any Confidential Settlement listed above.   Contact a Discrimination Attorney for a Free Consultation Now