AutoZone to pay $185 million in gender discrimination lawsuit

SAN DIEGO (KABC) -- A jury awarded $185 million to a San Diego woman who sued her former employer AutoZone for pregnancy and gender discrimination.

In 2005, Rosario Juarez worked as a store manager in National City. She told her district manager that she was pregnant, and got an odd response.

"He said, 'I feel sorry for you,'" Juarez said.

Juarez says her assigned list of tasks doubled after she became pregnant, including redoing displays that didn't need to be redone.

Despite meeting all her sales targets, the district manager told her she couldn't handle it, Juarez said.

Months after revealing she was pregnant, she was demoted. A year later, she filed a complaint with the state. The next year, she was fired.

Juarez filed a civil suit, alleging pregnancy and gender discrimination.

During the trial, her lawyers called on a former district manager, an ordained minister who described a meeting with high-level executives rejoicing over the expiration of a previous settlement agreement requiring AutoZone to promote women and track it.

"Specifically, it was said to this district manager that women were not worth a (sic) to AutoZone," attorney Lawrence Bohm said.

That's just one piece of the evidence that swayed a jury in Juarez's favor.

"Punitive damages at this level sends a very clear message to the board of directors: pay attention," Bohm said.

"It's not right what they did. They need to learn this message, that way they don't do this to any other female," Juarez said.