Jury awards $100K; woman says she lost job over Flint data

FLINT, Mich. (AP) — A jury has awarded $100,000 to a woman who says she lost her job after refusing to falsify results of blood tests for Flint children who were exposed to lead. April Cook-Hawkins worked for four to five months at the Genesee County health department in 2016 before being forced to quit. The health department says Cook-Hawkins was ousted over her performance. But attorney Carol Laughbaum says the jury didn’t accept that reason last week and awarded $100,000 for emotional distress after a brief trial. Cook-Hawkins told jurors she was directed to record lead-level results that she knew were inaccurate. The lawyer who represented Cook-Hawkins’ boss at the health department said he was disappointed with the trial result.