MEDFORD, Ore. (AP) - A federal jury in Medford has awarded a former postal worker $258,000 for emotional damage after she claimed she suffered years of verbal abuse by the Medford postmaster.
The employee, 39-year-old Gayle Santoni, sued the U.S. Postal Service after she was fired two years ago after complaining that Postmaster Jim Foucault verbally abused her and other employees.
Santoni described a hellish atmosphere in which Foucault routinely berated workers by making them stand on chairs in front of other employees while he criticized them.
Several postal workers testified against Foucault during the two-week trial.
A postal investigation in 2002 showed Foucault would routinely change employees' shifts to deny them consecutive days off.
Foucault is still employed by the post office. He declined comment.
U.S. Postal Service District Manager Dallas Keck said Santoni's complaints were dealt with when they first were made eight years ago and that things have changed.
