The case centered on Kenny Faulk, a Black business graduate who was conditionally hired by Dimerco Express USA for a $90,000 Atlanta sales position in 2019, only to have the offer rescinded when President Herbert Liou discovered Faulk's race. Internal emails revealed Liou's explicit preference for hiring "Caucasian Sales & Marketing Manager/VP" and "young, white men" as "work horses," despite company compliance officer Cathy Chou warning that such racial targeting would result in "a guilty verdict and large damage award" if challenged legally.
Chief Judge William Pryor, writing for the panel, rejected Dimerco's claims that attorney misconduct and evidentiary errors required a new trial. "The district court cured the lawyer's misconduct and did not reversibly err in its evidentiary rulings," Pryor concluded. The court found that while plaintiff's counsel Amanda Farahany improperly told jurors about passing a "torch" of justice to them, the trial judge immediately corrected the statements and issued curative instructions that eliminated any prejudice.
The case arose after former HR manager Renee Howard contacted Faulk in 2021, revealing that Dimerco hired a white candidate with multiple misdemeanor convictions while rejecting Faulk based on a single 2014 disorderly conduct conviction. A jury awarded Faulk $390,000 in compensatory damages for lost wages and emotional distress, plus $3 million in punitive damages, which the district court upheld despite Dimerco's post-trial motions.
The decision reinforces that intentional racial discrimination in hiring can support substantial punitive awards when companies persist despite legal warnings. The 7.69-to-1 punitive damages ratio falls within constitutional bounds for "exceedingly reprehensible" conduct, the court held, distinguishing cases involving less egregious behavior. The ruling also affirmed $406,238 in attorney's fees for Faulk's successful civil rights claim.