Woman to be paid $1.27M in harassment suit

A woman who formerly worked at the Glendale office of a packaging company won a $1.27 million wrongful termination and workplace harassment verdict Tuesday in Los Angeles County Superior Court.

Judee Welch was a saleswoman for 22 years at Ivy Hill Corp., a firm that manufactured packaging for computer and media disks with a facility on Los Angeles Street. The company has since been acquired by New York-based Multi Packaging Solutions Inc.

Welch, who was fired in March 2009, alleged in court that an Ivy Hill executive made age-related insults, that the firm unfairly took away her most lucrative sales account and that managers fabricated reasons to fire her.

She sued for harassment, wrongful termination and discrimination. A jury agreed with her on the harassment and wrongful termination allegations, according to a statement by her attorney, Santa Monica-based Carney Shegerian.

Calls to Multi Packaging Solutions and an attorney defending Ivy Hill were not immediately returned Wednesday afternoon.