Taking the stand on her own behalf during the trial, Andrews broke down while recounting her treatment at the hands of ABC / ESPN management, who clearly sought to exploit her ordeal for their own benefit by forcing her to go on ABC-TV's "Good Morning America" to address her situation publicly and in detail, before they'd allow her to resume her duties as a sports reporter. That video of her undressing went viral, and has been seen by an estimated 17-20 million people.

Even ESPN Magazine further parlayed the network's conventional wisdom at the time in print, which was that the nude video may have been part of some crazy publicity stunt Ms. Andrews had concocted on her own behalf. When discussing the scandal on the air, her male ESPN colleagues openly commented about her allure and sex appeal, as the accompanying videos of her slowly lingered on her body far longer than they needed to be.

So, yeah, I would hope that ABC and ESPN are lawsuit defendants, as well. Their treatment of Erin Andrews ex post facto was both craven and despicable. Who can really blame her for bailing on them at her first available opportunity?

As it was, Andrews was kept off the air for nearly a year. At her very first assignment after she returned to work, a college football player was shown live over the airwaves standing behind her in camera shot, engaging in a lewd and suggestive dance while her back was turned to him. She was repeatedly and derogatorily referenced in numerous ESPN chatrooms as "Erin Pageviews." And years later, as has been documented in both print and video, people are still taunting her in public about that hotel room video.

"This could have been stopped. The Nashville Marriott could have just called me and said 'We're putting this man that requested to be next to you, is this OK?' and I would have called the cops and we would have gotten him. It could have stopped this. [...] I just wanted to be the girl next door who loved sports. Now, I'm the girl with a hotel scandal. [...] This happens every day of my life, either I get a tweet or somebody makes a comment in the paper or somebody sends me a still of the video to my Twitter or someone screams it at me in the stands and I'm right back to this. I feel so embarrassed and I am so ashamed."
-Erin Andrews, testifying in court (February 29, 2016)

As far as the $55 million judgment is concerned, I think it's unlikely that Ms. Andrews will ever see more than 20% of that amount. I fully expect an appeals judge to eventually reduce -- but not absolve -- the hotel's culpability in facilitating the efforts of Andrews' stalker Michael Barrett. From Mr. Barrett himself, she'll probably see little if any restitution.

So, regarding the actual damage inflicted upon Erin Andrews' career and person, I would offer that it's likely significant and further incalculable because it's still ongoing. Still further, it's really neither up to you nor I nor anyone else who wasn't there to be speculating about any actual monetary costs.

Suffice to say that neither of us would enjoy being subjected to that sort of gratuitous personal abuse she's had to endure on a daily basis. I mean, where exactly does one go and who does one see in order to recover his or her personal reputation, after something like this occurs? Therefore, the jurors considered all the facts and rendered their decision, which I personally believe to be quite fair.