A federal jury has awarded $80,000 in damages to a former Tucson Water employee who claimed she was fired for complaining about how an acid spill was handled.
The jury ruled that Maria Magda Thompson should receive $30,000 in compensatory damages and $50,000 in punitive damages.
Jurors found that Michael Ring retaliated against Thompson for going to city officials and the Tucson Fire Department in 1997 to report that a 600-gallon sulfuric acid leak was handled illegally and improperly.
Thompson claimed Ring did nothing when her fellow coworkers harassed her for filing the complaints.
City officials claim the leak, which occurred at a water treatment plant, did not endanger public health.
A Tucson Fire Department report in January 1998 determined nine of the 12 employees involved in the acid cleanup had little or no training on how to work with hazardous materials.
Source: The Associated Press
