When a pair of wrens made a nest on the deck of Ruby Campagna's apartment two years ago, she was thrilled.
When the eggs in the nest hatched, she was ecstatic."I love birds," Campagna said. "I got very attached to them. They became my babies."
So when the apartment manager destroyed the nest and the birds, Campagna was devastated.
That was enough for a Roanoke Circuit Court jury, which Tuesday awarded Campagna $135,000 for her emotional distress and medical bills. The jury ruled that apartment manager Judy Woody intentionally inflicted emotional distress on Campagna.
According to Campagna's lawsuit, Woody, "a malevolent scowl on her face," stepped on the thumb-size birds and then twisted her feet "in order to mutilate and mangle their tiny bodies" right in front of her tenant.
John Sarber, the lawyer representing Woody and the South Roanoke Apartment Village, said Woody did not know there were birds in the nest when she knocked it down. Once she discovered the birds, she killed them because "it was the least cruel thing to do."
Bird nests were routinely removed from the apartments because of the damage they caused, the lawyer added.
"These birds were wild; they were not pets," he said.
A psychiatrist testified that Campagna suffers from depression and anxiety akin to post-traumatic stress disorder.
Or as Campagna put it, "my entire life has changed from joy and happiness to sadness and depression."