Alum Wins Boeing Lawsuit

The Los Angeles County Superior Court ruled last week that a Harvard graduate and Rhodes Scholar was laid off from his job at Boeing Satellite Systems Inc. in retribution for complaints of racial discrimination.

Geoffrey T. Gibbs ’83, who is also a Crimson editor, was awarded $600,000 by the jury for four months of lost wages while he was out of work and for the emotional stress he said he endured, said Wilmer J. Harris, Gibbs’ attorney. Gibbs was awarded an additional $100,000 in punitive damages.

“My client clearly sees the ruling as vindication,” Harris said.

Gibbs could not be reached for comment at his home in Brazil.

The jury also decided that the defense should have to pay Gibbs’ attorney’s fees—which Harris said might eclipse the actual award to Gibbs.

Gibbs lost the two other points of contention he brought against Boeing. Though the jury agreed that Gibbs’ complaints of racial discrimination had improperly led to his firing, they did not find that Gibbs’ court allegation of racial discrimination was itself founded. In addition, the jury did not accept Gibbs’ argument that Boeing employed defamatory tactics against him.

Boeing spokesperson Dan Beck said his company was pleased that it won two of the three counts and was not found to have engaged in racial discrimination.

Beck also said Boeing would challenge the jury’s decision in favor of Gibbs for the retaliation claim.

Under California state law, Beck said, lawyers can petition a judge presiding over a civil dispute to overrule a jury decision if the judge believes the jury’s decision is not reflective of the evidence in the case.

“The jury seemed to base its decision on the belief that Boeing had not proceeded vigorously enough in investigating Mr. Gibbs’ discrimination claim,” Beck said. “But the claims of racial discrimination were investigated by our people. They did not find any basis for it.”

“We believe everything was handled appropriately in Mr. Gibbs’ employment,” Beck added.

Gibbs was hired as an in-house lawyer for Boeing in 1996. Harris said Gibbs was initially well-liked by the company—which Harris said was evidenced by his promotion to “deal maker” for the company as the director of business affairs for the Digital Satellite Systems unit. Boeing also paid for Gibbs to attend an MBA program at the University of California Los Angeles.

But in October 2000, Gibbs was demoted to contracts administrator—a job below his initial position of in-house lawyer.

Harris said Gibbs complained to the company on May 1, 2001, that racial discrimination helped motivate the demotion.

Beck said the jury sided with Boeing in determining that the demotion was made because of performance-related issues, rather than because of Gibbs’ race.

Beck said it is company policy not to discuss specific performance issues of employees.

But Harris said Gibbs’ accomplishments at Harvard, culminating in his selection as a Rhodes Scholar, helped convince the jury that Gibbs was not incompetent and that his firing little more than a month after he complained of racial discrimination must have been retaliatory.

“My client’s academic background really impressed the jury,” Harris said. “It definitely helped belie [Boeing’s] claims that he couldn’t do the job well.”

Harris added that Gibbs had never received a negative performance review prior to his demotion.

Beck said Boeing contended that the human resources department was prepared to tell Gibbs he was going to be laid off—but that Gibbs requested a voluntary layoff first. Beck admitted that Gibbs disputed this version of events.

After leaving Boeing, Gibbs worked for Disney for 18 months and is now preparing to start his own law practice, Harris said.

—Staff writer Alan J. Tabak can be reached at tabak@fas.harvard.edu.