Driver Wins $12.2 Million in Bias Suit Against Vons

The Vons grocery store chain was ordered by a federal jury Friday to pay $12.2 million to a black truck driver who complained that his supervisors taunted him with racial slurs and deprived him of lucrative delivery routes.

Jimmy Young, 50, a father of four who lives in Riverside, won the award against Vons and two of his former supervisors after a three-week trial in U.S. District Court in Los Angeles on a racial discrimination lawsuit he filed in 1986.

Stella Owens-Murrell, one of Young’s attorneys, said Young had withstood racial harassment on the job since 1978 when he was transferred from the grocery store chain’s El Monte warehouse to its transportation department as a truck driver.

‘Nothing Was Done’

“When he complained to management,” Owens-Murrell said, “he got responses like, ‘I’ll look into it and get back to you,’ but nothing was done.”

Vons, which is headquartered in El Monte and operates 180 stores in California and Nevada, issued a statement saying it intends to ask Judge Ferdinand F. Fernandez to set aside the verdict and grant a new trial.

“We believe the suit to be totally groundless, and we intend to vigorously pursue an appeal,” said the statement by Mary McAboy, a Vons spokeswoman. “Vons has not and does not discriminate in any manner.”

Of the $12.2 million awarded to Young by the jury, $39,833 was assessed against two of Young’s former supervisors for pain and suffering: $24,500 against Gregory Rock and $15,333 against E. J. Ollis.

The remainder is the award against Vons. The jury assessed the chain $10.7 million in punitive damages, $1.3 million for pain and suffering, $190,464 for past and future lost wages and benefits and $56,000 for past and future medical expenses.

On Disability Leave

Young, who has been on disability leave since November, 1986, with gastrointestinal trouble and diabetes reportedly aggravated by the stress of the harassment, was not present in court when the verdict was announced. He could not be reached for comment.

Owens-Murrell said the racial slurs were only a part of the discrimination Young suffered. She said his supervisors began assigning him short-distance, lower-paying delivery routes and giving the more lucrative, long-haul trips to white drivers with less seniority.

Young’s supervisors also deprived him of the standard time allotted for drivers to check the roadworthiness of their assigned truck before departing, Owens-Murrell said.