Court Rejects Case From Former Tyson Employee
Last updated Monday, March 19, 2007 7:01 PM CDT in Business
By The Morning News
The Supreme Court refused Monday to consider a workplace harassment case involving a Muslim immigrant and former worker at a Springdale-based Tyson Foods Inc. subsidiary company.
Abdul Azimi, formerly of Afghanistan, was employed at the Jordan's Meats plant in Portland, Maine, from November 1999 to November 2001.
Azimi asked the justices to take the case after a federal jury declined to award compensation despite concluding he was subjected to an oppressive and hostile work environment. The harassment Azimi said, worsened following the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks.
After being fired from the company, Azimi asked the justices to consider whether the U.S. District judge in the case was mistaken in dismissing the claim with prejudice.
The justices were asked to consider whether the judge erred by refusing to allow jury instructions on consideration of punitive damages where the jury returned no compensatory damages.
In response, the 1st U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals said Azimi put no evidence in the record of any out-of-pocket costs for medical treatment or psychological counseling or any wages lost from the abuse he suffered. The jury "reasonably rejected" the testimony offered, the court said.
In February 2005, Tyson Foods closed the Jordan's Meat facility in Portland, Maine but still retains ownership of the brand.
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