Women awarded $30 million in harassment case against Kroger division

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Posted 7:37AM on Monday, April 8, 2002

SAN DIEGO - A jury has awarded $30.6 million to six women who said they were subject to violent behavior and sexual harassment by a store director at Ralphs Grocery Co. The plaintiffs on Friday were awarded $5 million each in punitive damages and a total of $550,000 for pain and suffering, said Philip Kay, a San Francisco lawyer who represented the employees. "Women who work in this type of position need to be protected," Kay said Saturday. "This will send a message to companies that they must not tolerate this kind of action any further." The women, who worked for Ralphs in the 1990s, claimed store director Roger Misiolek touched them inappropriately, abused them verbally and threw phones, shopping carts and 40-pound mailbags at them. When they complained to company officials, they complained he was transferred to another store. Representatives for Ralphs could not be reached for comment Saturday. Company spokesman Terry O'Neil told the North County Times that the company will appeal. "Obviously, Ralphs is very disappointed with the result," O'Neil said. "We believe there are many issues with this case that still need to be resolved." In 1998, another jury awarded the plaintiffs $3.3 million in punitive damages. But a judge set aside the award after she learned a juror improperly researched Ralphs' net worth from documents outside the court and then shared the information with other jurors. A state appeals court upheld the first jury's harassment verdict and $550,000 judgment for emotional distress and ordered a second trial to re-decide the punitive damages. Los Angeles-based Ralphs operates more than 450 stores, including Food4Less centers. It is a division of the country's largest supermarket operator, Kroger Co. of Cincinnati.