Hughes Must Pay Punitive Damages : Courts: Jury grants $3.5 million to former aircraft company employee who alleged racial discrimination.

A Los Angeles Superior Court jury on Friday awarded $3.5 million in punitive damages to a former employee of Hughes Aircraft Co. after finding that the company discriminated against him because he is black.

The verdict came a day after the jury determined that the defense contractor should pay Samuel Harris, 37, nearly $400,000 for emotional distress and lost wages. Harris, an 11-year employee of the company, was laid off in 1989. He sued a year later.

The $3.9-million total placed the award among the top 10 jury verdicts in employment lawsuits over the last three years in California, according to a recent study.

Hughes spokesman Richard Dore called the verdict “unwarranted” and blamed recent events for the jury’s decision.

“It reinforces a concern we expressed to the court, that Hughes could be prejudiced by starting a trial immediately following the Rodney King verdict and subsequent civil disturbances,” Dore said. “We asked for a continuance on those grounds, but it was denied.”

The trial began May 9 before Superior Court Judge Reginald Dunn.

Harris’ attorney, Jonathan W. Biddle, said he did not believe the jury panel, made up of four blacks, four Latinos and four Anglos, was unduly influenced by the verdicts in favor of four Los Angeles police officers in the King beating trial. “Each juror was asked if this would affect them and the answer was no,” he said.

“This was not a runaway jury,” Biddle said. “Their message was simple: Treat people on the basis of their ability and don’t subject them to discrimination.”

Harris, a graduate of Cal State Northridge, worked for Hughes’ missile systems group from 1978 to 1989. He claimed that although he worked to recruit other minorities and helped develop an affirmative action plan, he never got beyond the level of administrative assistant. He sued for racial discrimination based on unequal pay, lack of promotions and wrongful termination.

Dore said Harris was laid off “for economic reasons.” The company spokesman also said, “Hughes has a strong and active affirmative action program and an employee complaint resolution program which Mr. Harris did not utilize.”

Dore said the aircraft manufacturer will ask the judge to set aside the verdict.

The jury’s award was higher than the average $1.5-million verdict in employment lawsuits in California, according to Angel Gomez, a Los Angeles attorney who recently completed a study of verdicts in employment cases involving discrimination or wrongful termination complaints that went to trial in the last three years.