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Dillard Department Stores12/13/1999
Deloris Beckwith, sixty-four years of age, was a twenty-five-year employee of Dillard Department Stores (Dillard) and an area sales manager for nineteen years. She injured her back at work and filed a workers' compensation claim. Dillard is a self-insured employer. Beckwith was asked to return to work, but her doctor refused to release her because of her condition. When Beckwith failed to return to work, Dillard filled her job with another manager. Upon her return, Beckwith was demoted to an entry-level sales position with a forty-percent reduction in salary and benefits. She resigned and commenced this action.
FACTS
Beckwith was an exemplary employee of Dillard who had never received an annual review rating of less than "satisfactory" and most of her reviews rated her "very good" or "outstanding." Her salary was $41,000 per year, and she enjoyed a benefit package that included medical coverage and a retirement plan.
Beckwith strained her back at work while attempting to move a large mahogany table. Her injuries rendered her unable to walk upright or without assistance. A doctor recommended by Dillard certified her as temporarily disabled secondary to acute lumbosacral strain. Another doctor referred by Dillard agreed. The store manager requested that Beckwith return to work prior to her release from the doctor, even though the manager knew she had not been released. Beckwith failed to return to work when requested, and another person was given her position. The store manager later informed her by telephone that she had been replaced.
Beckwith returned to Dillard for light duty work approximately a month after the injury . She was assigned an entry-level position, which included document filing. Thereafter, she was asked to leave a weekly department managers' meeting because she no longer served in a management position. All of the other area sales managers and assistant managers observed Beckwith's humiliation as a result of the incident.
Beckwith was ultimately given two choices, resignation or a permanent entry-level sales associate position with a forty-percent cut in wages and benefits. She accepted the demotion because she was her sole support and needed the medical benefits. Beckwith was assigned to the ladies' ready-to-wear division, one of the most difficult departments in which to make daily sales quotas. If entry-level sales associates did not make their daily quotas, they could be docked part of their pay or be fired. After Beckwith began working in sales, the teenage sales associates would laugh at her behind her back, and additionally, other Dillard employees in the store talked about Beckwith's situation and why she was demoted. At one point when Beckwith walked into the employee lounge at lunchtime, the room went silent and people stared at her. Beckwith twice complained to management about the humiliation she was experiencing and its effect on her health. She finally resigned one week before her twenty-fifth year with Dillard.
At the time Beckwith was released to return to work there were two area sales manager positions open for which she was qualified, but management determined she was not eligible for an area sales manager position, a post she held prior to her demotion. She was notified the demotion was because she took time "off for workman's comp."
Beckwith fell into a depression and was treated by a psychiatrist for a major depressive disorder. She was treated with antidepressant medication and psychotherapy.
After leaving her job, Beckwith filled out applications for employment at several department stores, called friends who worked at different stores to inquire if any posit
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