Misunderstandings over an office birthday party recently taught a Kentucky employer an expensive lesson about disability discrimination. A jury awarded $450,000 to the affected employee who didn’t want the party and allegedly suffered a panic attack afterward. The employer’s alleged, repeated mishandling of the worker’s behavior after the episode offers the best explanation for the jury’s verdict.
Facts
Gravity Diagnostics hired Kevin Berling to work as an “accessioner” at its Covington, Kentucky, facility in October 2018. Accessioners organize and sort laboratory samples. His job also required him to enter data into a computer system.
