TRENTON, N.J. (Legal Newsline) - A man fired while stricken with cancer should keep his six-figure jury verdict, a New Jersey appeals court has ruled.
Key to Joey Cutri's courtroom success was a statement by a co-worker that he was using his cancer "as a crutch," it is detailed in a an April 18 ruling by the Superior Court's Appellate Division.
Defendant Tec-Cast, Inc., tried and failed to have the statement, which was heard by Cutri's wife, excluded. Cutri pursued his case under the New Jersey Law Against Discrimination and won $611,795.91 during a 2022 trial in Bergen County.
On the eve of trial, Tec-Cast and individual defendants motioned to have Cutri's wife excluded from the witness stand. But it was denied because they had never moved to depose her to challenge her statement.
Citing New Jersey precedent, the appeals court wrote, "If a witness is not testifying as an expert, the witness' testimony in the form of opinions or inferences may be admitted if it: (a) is rationally based on the witness' perception; and (b) will assist in understanding the witness' testimony or determining a fact in issue."
Cutri started at Tec-Cast as an assistant comptroller in November 2010. The company makes aluminum casings and described Cutri as excellent in his only written evaluation in 2017.
When Lynne Biss retired as Chief Financial Officer in 2018, he was promoted to comptroller and took on her responsibilities while she worked on a part-time basis as a contractor.
But in December of that year, he was diagnosed with cancer and informed his employer and Biss. His wife claims in 2019, Biss said Cutri was "using his cancer as a crutch" and only had a job because of her.
Biss returned to the company's payroll in April 2019 and allegedly began excluding Cutri from important meeting. Cutri confronted her about the "crutch comment" in June 2019 and worried his job was in jeopardy, though company owner Robert Morehardt assured him it was secure.
It wasn't, though. Morehardt decided to eliminate one of the two financial jobs and chose to fire Cutri a month after cancer surgery and during a medical leave of absence.
The jury also found Biss and Morehardt individually liable for Cutri's damages, a finding affirmed by the appeals court.