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  James Brown Sexual Harassment Case Decided by Jury. 


02-22-02 antiGUY

The Jury in the civil sexual harassment case brought against James Brown has returned a split verdict. The charge of sexual harassment were rejected previously, however the jury did find on Wednesday that the former West Coast president of James Brown Enterprises, 
Lisa Ross Agbalaya, was wrongfully terminated and awarded her damages of $40,000, a sum equal to a year�s salary for her former position. 

Agbalaya was originally seeking $1 million in punitive damages charging sexual harassment, retaliation, wrongful termination and infliction of emotional distress. The Jury however only awarded her compensatory damages for the wrongful termination charge. 

"We're extremely happy," Brown's attorney, Debra Opri, said following the announcement of the verdict. 

Brown was not on hand to hear the verdict but had previously testified in the trial claiming that he never made unwanted sexual advances towards Agbalaya who claimed that in 1999, Brown had grabbed her by the hips and pulled her towards him while she was in his Georgia home. Brown told the jury that Agbalaya was fired when he decided to shut down his west coast office. Agbalaya�s attorney claims that office was shut down just three days after the filing of the lawsuit. 
 

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