When a Fortune 100 corporation pursues an office feud by an employee's ex-girlfriend, the company may get a harsh reprimand, as Microsoft did when a Texas jury found it liable for $11.6 million for employment discrimination.
A civil jury in Austin, Texas, made the wrongful discharge award last week to a senior sales executive who was hounded in a two-year a campaign launched by his boss -- the ex-girlfriend -- and joined by the a Marketing Director, a Regional Sales Director, the National Sales Director and the Vice President of U.S. OEM Windows, Office and Server sales.
Wrongful termination is a growing legal claim that workers are using successfully to hold vengeful companies to account, such as Kraft Foods, Playboy and Staples. Specifically, management retaliation is the leading claim filed against employers, according to statistics by the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission.