A U.S. District Court judge is currently considering a jury recommendation that the College pay a former employee $60,000 because she was fired two years ago after she complained of discrimination while working at the Hanover Inn.
A final decision on the punitive damages will not be made for one month, after both sides have submitted arguments responding to the recommendation.
Catherine Whitcomb, of Hartland, Vt., filed a suit in Oct. 1992, charging that her supervisors at the College-owned Hanover Inn discriminated against her because she was pregnant.
But after a five-day trial last week, the jury found the College was not guilty of discrimination, but had "retaliated against her for complaining" about discrimination by firing her, College Counsel Sean Gorman said.
"I would have been more pleased with a verdict for the defendant," Gorman said yesterday morning.
He said the judge has not decided if or how much the College should pay Whitcomb and that the jury's finding of $60,000 is a fraction of the more than $1.2 million she requested in her suit.
The jury's recommendation is not binding, Gorman said.
Whitcomb could not be reached yesterday and her lawyer did not return numerous phone messages left with his secretary.
"I did weigh not suing," Whitcomb said in an interview with the Valley News recently. "But this happens way too much and I thought that it was about time that somebody did something."
According to court documents quoted in the article, Whitcomb was a valued worker at the Inn and received promotions.
In March 1992, three years after she joined the hotel and seven months before filing suit, the Hanover Inn promoted her to banquet manager. She earned a salary of $24,000 and $6,000 in tips, the article reported.
She claimed that after announcing she would have a baby the following November, her supervisors offered her a demotion and "suggested" she step down, the Valley News reported.
The College said it found no discrimination after she wrote a letter to the College's affirmative action office and College officials, the lawsuit claimed.
The lawsuit said Assistant Personnel Director Kenneth Freeman conducted the investigation into Whitcomb's claim.
After Freeman's investigation, Whitcomb filed a discrimination suit against the College with the New Hampshire Commission for Human Rights and the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, the Valley News reported.
The Hanover Inn fired her on May 21, 1992.
Gorman said he was happy that the jury did not find the Hanover Inn or the College guilty of discrimination.
He said Whitcomb's lawyers have until July 22 to file arguments with the judge in support of the jury's advice of the College paying $60,000. He added that the College has two weeks to file a rebuttal after that date.