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For Immediate Release
February 16, 2001

Contact:
E-mail: beryl@wolfenews.com

Beryl Wolfe
(207) 775-5115

Web Site: http://www.bernsteinshur.com

Jury Awards $1 Million Verdict to Former Portland Woman in Harassment Case Against U.S. Postal Service

Bernstein, Shur Attorneys Prove Client Mistreated by Her Managers

A federal jury has awarded $1 million to a former Portland woman for sexual harassment and abuse inflicted on her by senior managers at the U.S. Postal Service plant on Forest Avenue in Portland.

Jurors concluded that Stephanie Berry's supervisors created a hostile workplace by intimidating, ridiculing, insulting and verbally abusing her to the point that she grew physically ill and could no longer work. The verdict, which included $750,000 in punitive damages, was announced Thursday night in U.S. District Court in Portland.

The jury's decision marks the third major verdict in five years against the U.S. Postal Service in Portland for abusive treatment of employees.

"Abusive treatment of women - or any employee - in the workplace is intolerable," said Berry's lead attorney, Joseph J. Hahn of Bernstein, Shur, Sawyer & Nelson. "We believe this verdict is fair and just and hope that now, with this third major verdict against them in five years, the postal service will finally get the message that they can't continue treating people the way they have been."

Hahn believes the jury found particularly outrageous the fact that Plant Manager Joseph Leonti's final, most egregious blowup toward Berry occurred on May 16, 1996 - just two weeks after a federal court had entered a $400,000 judgement against the U.S. Postal Service in Portland for discrimination against another employee.

"Clearly, they never got the message. That fact was not lost on the jury," said Hahn, who was assisted by Kate S. Debevoise and Glenn Israel, also attorneys at Portland-based Bernstein, Shur, one of northern New England's largest law firms.

Jurors deliberated 2 ¸ hours late Thursday afternoon following four days of testimony in a trial presided over by U.S. District Judge D. Brock Hornby.

Berry, a longtime Portland resident who now lives in Florida, worked at the U.S. Postal Service in Portland from 1986 to 1996. She told jurors the emotional trauma and stress caused by her superiors resulted in sleeplessness, nausea and a rash, among other physical symptoms. Berry's doctor placed her on disability leave, and three different doctors later concurred that she was totally disabled and unable to work.

The case pitted Berry's word and medical evidence supporting her claims against the word of senior managers at the postal service who disputed her version of events. The U.S. Attorney's office represented the U.S. Postal Service.

Joseph J. Hahn of Freeport is one of the state's leading labor litigation attorneys and is chair of the Employment Law Practice Group at Bernstein, Shur. Before joining the firm in 1988, Hahn was a labor specialist with a major law firm in Chicago and had prior experience with the National Right To Work Legal Defense Foundation in Washington, D.C. He has practiced before the National Labor Relations Board, the Federal Labor Relations Board and the EEOC.

Kate S. Debevoise of Yarmouth and Glenn Israel of Cape Elizabeth are members of the firm=s Employment Law Practice Group and concentrate their practices on employment law, labor and business-related litigation in state and federal courts and agencies. Debevoise joined Bernstein, Shur in 1987, Israel in 1993.

Bernstein, Shur, Sawyer & Nelson is one of northern New England's largest law firms with more than 65 attorneys in offices in Portland and Augusta. The firm practices in a number of areas, including corporate and commercial law, litigation and trials, municipal and governmental affairs, tax and estate planning, international and immigration matters, health law, employment and labor law, legislative representation and intellectual property, construction law, high technology and e-commerce practice.

Bernstein, Shur's web site at www.mainelaw.com was the first of its kind when launched in 1995, and is now available in six languages for the convenience of its many foreign clients. Bernstein, Shur also is the only Maine law firm that is a member of Lex Mundi, an international association of 151 law firms located in all major economic centers in the world.

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