A federal jury yesterday awarded $3.4 million to a blind woman who was fired as head of Pennsylvania's state agency for the blind and visually impaired, ruling that she was discriminated against because of her disability.

The six-woman, two-man jury awarded Christine L. Boone's $180,000 in "front pay" -- future wages she lost because she was fired -- but her lawyer said he will instead ask the judge to reinstate her to her old position as director of the Bureau of Blindness and Visual Services.

"We're going to beg for her job back," said Ms. Boone's attorney, Arch Stokes.

Ms. Boone, 44, sued the state Department of Labor and Industry and its head, Secretary Stephen Schmerin, as well as the Office of Vocational Rehabilitation and its since-retired executive director, Stephen Nasuti.

Mr. Schmerin was ordered to pay $1.74 million and Mr. Nasuti $1.62 million. The jury decided that Ms. Boone had proven that the two men made false, defamatory and stigmatizing public statements about her firing that called into question her good name, reputation and professional qualifications.

State-paid insurance policies will completely cover both men, said the defendants' lawyer, James P. Golden.