Aaron's settles sexual harassment lawsuit for $6M
ATLANTA (AP) — Furniture and appliance rental company Aaron's Inc. has settled a sexual harassment lawsuit with a former employee for $6 million.
In the lawsuit, an employee claimed she was sexually harassed by a former manager in 2006. The final settlement is far smaller than the original jury verdict from June 2011, which awarded about $95 million in to the former employee. A judge lowered the judgment against Aaron's to $39.8 million because the damages exceeded the maximum allowed by law.
In a separate trial, a criminal jury acquitted the former co-worker of all charges in September 2011.
In a January 2012 hearing, the court said that the $95 million award was excessive, and ruled not to sustain the verdict in its current form. Aaron's said the company and its former employee agreed to settle the lawsuit for $6 million and filed to have it dismissed.
The Atlanta company recorded a $36.5 million charge for costs related to the suit in the second quarter of 2011. It plans to take $35.5 million of money set aside to pay legal costs as income in the current quarter, which ends in March.
Aaron's has about 1,950 stores in the U.S. and Canada.
