ARCADIA, Calif. -- A female general merchandising manager at Vons Co. here has been awarded $5.2 million by a jury in Orange County Superior Court after suing for sexual discrimination, breach of contract and wrongful demotion.
ched, and we fully intend to pursue an appeal."
The employee, Lynne Rayburn, was hired in 1971 and received a series of promotions to increasingly responsible positions, until by 1994 she was supervising seven departments. However, after she filed a sexual discrimination complaint in 1996, she was demoted to general merchandising manager -- just one level up from her starting position -- in what her current suit termed "a thinly-veiled discriminatory act."
In her current complaint, which was filed in January 1998, Rayburn claimed she was sexually harassed by her supervisor.
