Bombarded by phone calls from people applauding him for telling his story, former city firefighter Jesse Diaz got more good news Thursday.
After awarding Diaz a half million dollars the day before, the jury in his civil case tacked on another quarter-million simoleons for punitive damages – meant as a deterrent message to the city department not to retaliate against employees.
The additional $250,000 brought Diaz’s total judgement to $750,000 – or about half the amount a plaintiff economist testified it would take to make the city firefighter whole after he was forced to retire early in 2014.
Diaz, a longtime driver in the department and war veteran who served three tours overseas, got on the stand and told of rampant harassment from top brass and fellow firefighters at the four-week trial.