BOSTON – The U.S. Court of Appeals for the 1st Circuit recently affirmed a Bangor jury’s decision awarding a former employee of a Waterville U-Haul outlet $300,000 for sex discrimination.

In a decision rendered Dec. 7, the appeals court affirmed that Karen Romano of Augusta is entitled to the award from U-Haul Company of Maine and its parent, U-Haul International.

In June 1999, a federal jury in Bangor found that Romano was the victim of sexual discrimination while on the job when a manager told her she was being fired because “you sit when you pee.”

The appeals court stated in its decision, “This statement, and those made subsequently to her former husband, father, and to the man hired to replace her, likely came as a humiliating shock and evinced a blatant disregard of federally and state mandated anti-discrimination laws.”

Romano’s attorney, Jeffrey Neil Young of Topsham, said the decision affirming the verdict is a victory for working women in Maine and across the nation.

The appeal by U-Haul raised a number of significant issues that the 1st Circuit court decided for the first time, according to Young, including that employers, rather than employees, have the burden of proof to show they maintain effective anti-discrimination policies.

The Bangor jury initially awarded Romano $640,000, but the award was later reduced to $300,000 under federal and state statutes limiting recoveries to that amount.