Chief Judge Alex Munson said the leasehold property will be sold to satisfy the court’s judgment in favor of Qian Xiaoli.
In his order, Munson noted that “Grace International has run out of time to pay the judgment” since it was rendered in Dec. 2007.
Munson awarded Qian the amount of $40,777.57, representing “general, compensatory, and punitive damages” against her former employer.
In addition, the court approved $35,507 in attorney’s fee and costs in the amount of $1,819.20.
“Grace International has no choice but to accept the offer or have the court sell the leasehold interests at public auction and likely receive a less favorable price,” Munson stated in his order yesterday, referring to the highest leasehold offer of $151,017 from where the damages awarded can be deducted.
“The punitive damages are awarded in order to punish [Grace International] and to deter other employers who may be inclined to engage in similar discriminatory practices,” Munson said in his 2007 judgment in favor of Qian.
Qian’s lawyer Joseph Horey lauded the court’s decision.
He said his client’s condition is improving.
Qian is still on island.
Horey said Grace International ignored a “reasonable accommodation” that could have allowed his client to “perform the essential functions of her employment position” without imposing “an undue hardship on the operation and business” of Grace International.
Attorney Richard W. Pierce represented Grace International, which shut down in 2007.
The court ordered Grace International to assign its leasehold interests to Huang Shun Corp. which made the highest offer.
Qian sued Grace International for disability discrimination after her former employer “failed and refused” to renew her contract of employment in Oct. 2005 “because of her disability.”
According to the complaint filed in April 2007, Qian acquired a disability, specifically chronic back pain, which has been diagnosed as “mechanical lumbar spine dysfunction,” during the course of her third year of employment.
Qian was employed as a garment worker in Oct. 2002.
Grace International began operations in the mid-1980s.
