What You Need to Know

• Jury rules for Costco in suit by customer who was focus of employee's antisemitic remarks.
• Plaintiff claimed he experienced emotional distress from incident but did not seek counseling.
• Employee who allegedly made offensive comments to plaintiff had prior history of improper remarks to customers.

A jury in Monmouth County, New Jersey, has ruled in favor of Costco Wholesale Corp. in a customer’s suit over a store employee’s alleged antisemitic remarks.

Following a seven-day trial before Superior Court Judge Gregory Acquaviva, the jury ruled that statements to Irwin Wayne Levy by employee Georgina Percia did not violate New Jersey’s Law Against Discrimination.

The verdict could be viewed as an illustration of the peril of bringing a discrimination claim based on a single incident.

“We believed in, and we fought the good fight. It was stoutly defended and vigorously litigated, but we believed in the client and we didn’t think Costco’s response was appropriate,” said R. Armen McOmber of McOmber McOmber & Luber in Red Bank, who represented Levy. “We didn’t think Costco acted appropriately, and that’s why we brought the litigation, and that’s why we fought them for three and a half years.”

McOmber declined to say whether the six-person jury included any Jewish members.

There was no recording of the exchange that led to the suit, and the parties argued at length about the facts of the case, but some of Levy’s allegations were confirmed by the...

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