KY Employment Dispute Ends In Murder And $56M Award To Surviving Family Members
A Kentucky employment lawsuit for wrongful termination got really out of hand – and quickly led to a Kentucky criminal lawsuit. According to news reports, 28 year old Christina Wittich was dating optometrist Randall Lambirth. Lambirth had recently purchased an optometry practice from Michael Flick – also an optometrist – in 2003. The agreement provided that Lambirth would continue to employee Flick for three years. However, Lambirth fired Flick in 2004 and Flick filed a Kentucky wrongful termination lawsuit against Lambirth in March of 2005.
Two months after filing the lawsuit, Flick went to Lambirth's home. Only Wittich was home and Flick shot her twice – once in the back and once in her left side – and killed her. Lambirth arrived home shortly afterward and Flick shot him as well, although he survived. Flick was convicted of murder, burglary and assault and is currently in prison where he serving a life sentence. A jury awarded Wittich's family $55.9 million in damages – an amount that has been fairly controversial. Was it too much?
How are lawsuit damages calculated?
Damages in lawsuits are calculated in numerous ways depending upon the facts and circumstances of the lawsuit. In this lawsuit, the Wittich's Kentucky criminal law attorney had an economist testify that Wittich, who was employed as an office worker, would have lived another 53 years and earned between $1.7 to $2.1 million during the course of her lifetime. The jury awarded the family $1 million for each of those years as punitive damages, another $1.9 million in lost earnings and another $1 million for pain and suffering. Whether that amount was too high is subject to personal opinion. However, the family's experienced criminal law lawyer was able to convince a jury that the amount was reasonable – something an inexperienced lawyer may not have been able to do.
