SYRACUSE -- The ten victims of sexual harassment who were awarded a total of $1.25 million against Paul's Big M in Oswego may be receiving a lot less in punitive damages.
The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) has filed a motion to cap each of the claimants' awards at $50,000. In a motion filed in Federal Court in Syracuse, the EEOC reviewed the verdict and determined that the jury awards exceed the cap on damages allowed by the Civil Rights Act of 1991. The statute limits punitive damages for businesses with less than 100 employees to $50,000. One of the women was originally awarded more than a quarter million dollars.
Judge Norman Mordue is slated to hold a hearing on the motion to reduce the awards on March 16th.
After a trial that lasted more than two and a half weeks, the Federal Court jury determined that former store manager Allen Manwaring sexually harassed the women over a ten-year period with lewd comments and inappropriate behavior.
The EEOC motion also asks the judge to bar Manwaring from entering Paul's Big M. Manwaring granted an exclusive interview to CNY Central's Jim Kenyon. That interview took place inside the store in Oswego. You can read more on that interview below.
Click here to download and read the motion from Monday.
Original story from Monday morning:
The man at the center of a highly charged sexual harrassment suit in Federal Court in Syracuse is speaking out, claiming his innocence in an exclusive no holds barred interview with CNY Central's Jim Kenyon.
Allen Manwaring was the former manager of Paul's Big M in Oswego. Last month, in a lawsuit brought by former three female employess and joined by the EEOC, a federal jury found Manwaring guilty of sexually harassing 10 women. The jury ordered Paul's Big M to pay out $1.25 million in compensatory and punitive damages.
Manwaring, Paul's Big M, and owner, Karen Connors, are appealing the verdict and damages.
In granting the exclusive interview, Allen Manwaring said he wanted to explain to the public what took place after all the media attention resulting from the trial. Manwaring told Kenyon the allegations of lewd an inappropriate behavior were "total fabrications." When Kenyon pointed out that 13 women testified about him under oath, Manwaring replied, "I'm going to tell you again, total fabrications. And when you have the opportunity to walk away with awards like these women did...come on."
When Kenyon brought up an incident two years ago in which Manwaring pleaded guilty to forcibly putting his tongue into the mouth of a 17 year old clerk, Manwaring claimed "the tongue never entered her mouth...She was sitting on a lower bench, I was joking she was on the phone with her boyfriend...(as he gestured with his tongue) mmmmm...and I slipped and my tongue touched the bottom of her lip. Horrifying situation, Wrong? Absolutely."
Manwaring and his attorney David Antonucci also took aim at what they considered to be questionable tactics by the EEOC. They claim when the three women who originally brought the complaints filed suit in State Court, the EEOC was legally obligated to "back off" and end its sexual harassment investigation.
Contacted at his office in Boston, EEOC prosecutor Mark Penzel responded that there's no legal basis for Manwaring's criticism of their handling of the investigation. "Had we backed off we wouldn't have been able to present the claims of all the other women who were found to have been harrassed." Penzel added, "he doesn't seem to be able to accept reality and continues to evade responsibility for his actions."
Allen Manwaring revealed that he is currently trying to open "Al's Big M" in Pulaski and has applied for a loan from the Small Business Administration. He says one of the criteria for an SBA loan has to do with his character and integrity. Given the verdict on the sexual harassment suit, "The jury's still out on that." Manwaring said.
