Appeal on a Discrimination and Retaliation for Filing a Workers' Compensation Claim

Represented Blue Cross & Blue Shield of Connecticut, Inc. in appeal from a jury verdict in favor of a former employee who claimed discrimination and retaliation for filing a workers' compensation claim.  Issues in the appeal included whether the claim was properly tried to a jury, whether the court's charge to the jury on the allocation of burden of proof was correct, whether the jury should have been entitled to determine punitive damages in an action under Conn. Gen. Stat. § 31-290a, and whether the plaintiff could recover for emotional distress under that statute. The Supreme Court reversed and remanded the case back to the trial court, holding that the trial court had not properly instructed the jury on the allocation of burden of proof; Ford v. Blue Cross & Blue Shield of Connecticut, Inc., Connecticut Supreme Court, 216 Conn. 40 (1990).