ZWEIZIG v. ROTE (2021)

MEMORANDUM **

Max Zweizig filed suit against Northwest Direct Teleservices, Inc., its successors, and Timothy C. Rote in federal district court, alleging claims of retaliation and aiding-and-abetting retaliation in violation of Oregon Revised Statutes § 659A.030(1)(f) and (g). A jury found that Zweizig had suffered $1 million in noneconomic damages. The district court applied the $500,000 noneconomic damages cap set forth in Oregon Revised Statutes § 31.710(1) and entered judgment against the defendants “jointly and severally in the amount of five hundred thousand dollars ($500,000.00).”

Zweizig appealed, arguing that the district court erred in applying the damages cap. We certified the damages question to the Oregon Supreme Court, see Zweizig v. Rote, 962 F.3d 484 (9th Cir. 2020), in answer to which it concluded, “The damages cap in ORS 31.710(1) does not apply to an award of noneconomic damages for an unlawful employment practice claim under ORS 659A.030 in which the plaintiff does not seek damages that arise out of bodily injury and instead seeks damages for emotional injury,” Zweizig v. Rote, 368 Or. 79, 81, 486 P.3d 763 (2021) (en banc). We thus reverse and remand the case to the district court for further proceedings consistent with the Oregon Supreme Court's decision.

REVERSED AND REMANDED.