Judge Reduces Interstate Bakeries’ Discrimination Verdict

Interstate Bakeries Corp., the nation’s largest wholesale baker, persuaded a California judge to cut a $131-million verdict in a discrimination suit involving black workers to $27.3 million.

A group of current and former workers sued the maker of Wonder bread, Hostess Twinkies and Home Pride wheat bread in 1998, saying they were denied promotions and equal pay and subjected to racial epithets. A jury awarded them $10.8 million in actual damages and more than $120 million in punitive damages.

San Francisco County Superior Court Judge Stuart Pollak on Friday reduced the punitive verdict to $24.3 million and cut the actual damages to $3 million. Last week, he signaled he was planning to reduce the damages, saying the discrimination, while “pervasive,” was not “ubiquitous.”

The judge offered each plaintiff the chance to accept the reduced awards or press for a new trial.

The plaintiffs included bakers, shipping-dock workers and drivers who have been with the company for up to 39 years.