A jury awarded a former firefighter $245,000 in damages Thursday, deciding she had proved two allegations in her federal lawsuit against the city of Tampa: That she was discriminated against because she was pregnant and the city retaliated against her when she complained.
But on the third allegation, the seven-person jury did not find that the city discriminated against Tanja Vidovic because of her gender. The jury spent less than a day deliberating in U.S. District Court.
Vidovic, 36, cried quietly in court as the verdict was read, her husband and friends looking on in support.
"I feel relieved," Vidovic said later. "I feel that we’re making steps in the right direction on how we treat women personally and in the workforce."