SAN FRANCISCO – A California jury awarded $465,000 to a Muslim security guard who says his co-workers and supervisors called him a terrorist and an al-Qaida member.
The San Francisco Chronicle newspaper reports jurors added $400,000 in punitive damages Monday to their earlier $65,000 verdict in favour of Abas Idris for lost wages and emotional distress.
The 27-year-old says he quit his job as a security guard for Los Angeles-based Andrews International in February 2010 after the company failed to take his complaints about harassment seriously. He had served as a guard at the Letterman Digital Arts Center in the Presidio.
An attorney for Andrews says the company had promoted Idris to a supervisory position and plans to appeal.
