A jury awarded a former Target employee nearly $1 million in response to his lawsuit against the retail giant. James Patton, who was demoted and then terminated following two weeks of service with the Oregon National guard, sued Target citing federal and state laws, which prohibit discrimination against military personnel and wrongful discharge.

The jury sided with Target as they saw Patton’s demotion as a decision made regardless of his military service. However, the jury decided that the company retaliated against Patton for asking the National Gaurd to intervene following his demotion. In a statement, Target revealed its intent to appeal the decision on the ground that they believe the case is “without merit” and cited Target’s strong history of support for its employees (many of whom, as the statement pointed out, are veterans, reservists, or members of the National Guard).

Commentary: This is unfortunate as Target has a strong compliance and ethics track record. We believe that this is an isolated event and not reflective of any broader organizational culture problems at the company.

What this case does is highlight the increasingly important role that the Internet plays in helping to sway public perception of an organization’s reputation. When a story gets traction in an online community, as this one did with the online military community, a company may be well-advised to settle and get it out of the press rather than try to reverse it on principle – however tempting it may be. Viral marketing works in mysterious ways, including against a company. What we do know is that it is can be close to impossible to control (unless you are in China of course).