HONOLULU (AP) - A Honolulu nurse has been awarded nearly $4 million after an image of a noose was taped to her locker and a racist note was left in her hospital mailbox.
A jury on Wednesday awarded former Queen’s Medical Center nurse Ellen Harris $630,000 in general damages and $3.2 million in punitive damages after finding that she was harassed and discriminated against for reporting suspected wrongdoing in 2011.
The jury found that race was a substantial motivating factor in the harassment and that the conditions created a hostile work environment.
Queen’s Medical Center spokesman Cedric Yamanaka said the center is disappointed in the verdict and will be filing an appeal.
The case was one of two discrimination cases in Hawaii filed by African-American workers that included the use of a noose.
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