Community Corner
Injured Macomb Vet Loses $4.4M Jury Verdict in Appeals Court Decision
James McKelvey of Macomb Township had been awarded millions by a jury that decided he had endured harassment at his Warren workplace because of his Iraq war injury, but an appeals court has ruled in favor of the judge who threw out the verdict.
A federal appeals court ruled Wednesday that injured Macomb Township army veteran James McKelvey should not receive the $4.4 million awarded him by a jury to compensate for the disability harassment he endured at his workplace, according to a story in the Detroit Free Press.
McKelvey, who lost a hand diffusing a bomb in Iraq in 2004, filed a discrimination suit against the U.S. Army in 2007 on the grounds that continued harassment by co-workers and superiors at Tank-automotive & Armaments Command (TACOM) in Warren left him with no choice but to quit his job.
While a jury agreed and awarded him $4.4 million in compensation in 2009, U.S. District Judge John O’Meara threw out the jury's verdict and ruled McKelvey should instead "take the Army up on its offer to reinstate (him) to a job with higher pay at the Tank-automotive & Armaments Command (TACOM) in Warren," according to the Free Press.
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The federal appeals panel upheld O'Meara's decision and additionally ruled that "the Army must provide McKelvey with about $100,000 in back pay," the Free Press said.
Attorney Kevin Carlson of Royal Oak told the Free Press he was "glad the court of appeals reinstated the jury’s finding that (McKelvey) was forced to quit because of disability discrimination," but he and co-counsel Joseph Golden are planning to review the legality of the court asking their client to return to the place he was mistreated.
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The Free Press story described McKelvey's harassment at his workplace:
"Although his account differs somewhat from the Army’s, the appeals court said his supervisor and co-workers verbally abused McKelvey calling him a “cripple” and “worthless,” refused to provide computer equipment and door handles to accommodate his disability, excluded him from meetings and told him to stay in his office for months on end. He said superiors also objected to him parking in a handicapped space even though he had a state permit."
You can read more from the Free Press story here.
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