JACKSON MAN AWARDED $2.1 MIL IN WRONGFUL FIRING - Accountant Was Employee Of Former Burke-Parsons-Bowlby Company

(05/21/2010)

A Jackson County jury has awarded $2.1 million to an employee after they decided he was fired because of age discrimination. Jerold John Rice Jr., 47, had worked as an accountant for 24 years at Burke-Parsons-Bowlby Corporation, now owned by Stella-Jones U.S. Holding Corporation, a subsidiary of Canada-based Stella-Jones Inc. He was fired as the firm's controller in 2009 after Stella-Jones bought the company, which also has an operation in Roane County. After Stella-Jones terminated Rice, the company replaced him with a 29-year-old employee. The evidence introduced during the trial showed Rice had a very good work record with no problems in his file. Following a week-long trial before Judge Thomas C. Evans III, the Jackson Circuit Court jury awarded Rice $142,659 in back pay and $1.99 million in what was called "front pay" to compensate him for future losses.

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