Jurors award $4M to groundskeeper in unusual discrimination case

Jurors in an unusual trial — in which the defense never showed up — awarded more than $4 million in damages to the former groundskeeper of a Tallahassee mobile home park who was discriminated against because of his race.

Charles Kendrick last year sued The Meadows on Roberts Avenue and its former owner, James Stock, alleging he was fired after confronting Stock about discriminatory work practices and a statement he posted on Facebook saying black men are “illiterate and lazy.”

But neither The Meadows nor Stock ever bothered to respond to the lawsuit, let alone appear in Leon Circuit Court on Friday, when the trial was held. Circuit Judge Karen Gievers earlier found the defendants in default and therefore liable for all allegations in the lawsuit.

“They had every opportunity to be at every stop in the process,” said Tallahassee attorney Gautier Kitchen, who represented Kendrick. “My guess is he had no defense and he was shameful of the allegations.”

With the liability issue settled before trial, jurors were asked to determine only damages. They awarded Kendrick nearly $59,000 in lost wages, benefits and other economic losses, $350,000 in emotional pain and suffering and $3.63 million in punitive damages.

“Punitive damages are not just about the plaintiff,” Kitchen said. “It’s about the community. It’s about what we will allow here and what we simply will not allow here. More importantly — and I think this jury understood this — it is to deter these actions in the future by anyone who may be doing business in our community.”

Kendrick, who is black, started working at The Meadows in August 2012 and held the position of grounds supervisor. After Stock posted the Facebook comments in December 2014, Kendrick took exception and told Stock that he ran the place “like a plantation.” After that conversation, Stock began “to build a case against (Kendrick) to facilitate his firing."

In June 2015, Kendrick suffered a heat stroke on the job and was taken to the hospital by ambulance. After taking a few days off to recover, he returned to work and was told he was suspended for being four minutes late. At the same time, Kendrick said he needed paperwork to file a worker’s compensation claim. The next day, he was fired.

“These instances are not really even uncommon,” Kitchen said. “People being willing to come forward and call them out are. And I don’t criticize the people who don’t, but I applaud the courage of those who do because it’s the only way that we can win the civil rights battle — one battle at a time.”

The nearly 48-acre mobile home park sold in 2015 for $3 million to Tally Land LLC, whose authorized members are trustees of two California trusts, according to Leon County property records. The Meadows did not return a phone call from the Democrat. A sign outside the mobile home park says it’s under new management.

Contact Jeff Burlew at jburlew@tallahassee.com or follow @JeffBurlew on Twitter.