Louisville, Ky. – A Kentucky jury has awarded $ 450,000 to a man who sued his employer after he asked them not to celebrate his birthday at work, and they did it anyway.
Kevin Berling told his Gravity Diagnostics manager in Covington in 2019 that a birthday celebration would cause him immense stress.
But the company did not respond to his request and Berling suffered a panic attack, the Courier Journal reported. The next day, Berling had another panic attack when his supervisor punished him for “stealing the joy of his co-workers” and “being a girl,” according to a lawsuit. Berling was fired after the second attack.
Berling alleged in his lawsuit that the company discriminated against him for disability and retaliated against him for demanding reasonable accommodation.
The jury returned the verdict after a two-day trial in Kenton County that ended in late March. The jury awarded him $ 300,000 for emotional distress and $ 150,000 in lost wages.
The company’s attorney, Katherine Kennedy, said she continues to deny responsibility and is pursuing her post-trial options.
Julie Brazil, the company’s founder and chief operating officer, said in an e-mail statement to the newspaper that “with increasing incidents of violence in the workplace, this verdict sets a very dangerous precedent for to employers and, above all, employees, that unless there is real physical violence, Workplace violence is acceptable. “
Brazil said its employees, rather than the plaintiff, were the victims of the case.
Berling’s attorney, Tony Bucher, said that once the jury met with his client, they realized that the company’s claim to be a threat was outlandish.
Berling had told his supervisor that a birthday party would bring back bad childhood memories of his parents’ divorce. The company said the supervisor forgot to forward his request.
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