Judge Cuts Ex-L.A. Times Columnist Simers' Jury Award By $2.1M, Allows $5M To Stand

L.A. Superior Court Judge WILLIAM MACLAUGHLIN yesterday cut $2.1M from a $7.1M award to former L.A. Times sports columnist T.J. SIMERS, ruling that there was "little or no evidence to support a jury's conclusion that he had been forced out of his $234,000-a-year job," according to Kim Christensen of the L.A. TIMES. But while ordering a retrial on Simers' claim of constructive termination, MacLaughlin "let stand, with scant explanation, the jury's award" of $5M in damages on his claims of discrimination based on age and disability. Lawyers for the Times "had asked MacLaughlin to void the entire verdict." MacLaughlin ruled that Simers had "failed to meet the test for constructive termination, namely that his employer created or permitted intolerable working conditions." The judge "did not explain his reasons for permitting the discrimination claims to stand." L.A. Times Dir of Communications HILLARY MANNING said that the newspaper "will appeal" (L.A. TIMES, 1/5).