11/1/2023 0 Comments Gravity diagnostics llcHow Did Gravity Diagnostics Respond to Those Claims? Later, Berling dropped the "Retaliation" claim, but the case proceeded to trial on the disability discrimination claim. Namely that the company violated Kentucky labor law by firing him because he confronted the company about its alleged earlier breach of labor law (as referenced above). When he asked his supervisor to stop confronting him at the August 8 meeting, because it was likely to trigger another panic attack.When he asked the company to suspend its usual custom of holding an office birthday party.Namely that the company violated Kentucky labor law by failing to provide a "reasonable accommodation" for Berling, in respect of his anxiety disorder, in two ways: On the basis of these alleged facts, Berling made two claims against Gravity Diagnostics: 11, the company emailed him to say he was being fired. After that meeting, Gravity Diagnostics sent Berling home from work, and on Aug. According to Berling, he had another panic attack at that meeting and asked the supervisors to stop confronting him about his response to the party. 8, a meeting took place between Berling and two of his supervisors, Amy Blackburn and Ted Knauf. According to the lawsuit, this "triggered a panic attack, which forced to leave the office suddenly and spend his lunch break in his car." In his deposition, Berling would later explain that his birthday was an especially acute trigger for anxiety and panic attacks, for specific reasons relating to extremely negative memories from his family history. 7 - the company's custom for employee birthdays. In the complaint he filed at that time, Berling's attorneys asserted that he had an anxiety disorder which meant that being "the center of attention" caused him considerable distress.įor that reason, according to the lawsuit, Berling had told his office manager about the anxiety disorder, and asked them not to hold a lunchtime party for him on his birthday, Aug. In September 2019, Kevin Berling sued his former employer, the Covington, Kentucky, testing laboratory Gravity Diagnostics. He sued and now they owe him 450K." What Was the Kevin Berling Case About, and What Role Did the Birthday Party Play? "This guy told his job he didn’t want a birthday party his anxiety. radio network Heart published an article with the headline "Man wins £345,000 after suing employer for throwing him a birthday party he didn't want." Similarly, the Seattle CBC affiliate KIRO 7 went with "Kentucky man who did not want employer to throw birthday party awarded $450K." Similar headlines were published by the Louisville Courier Journal, the Washington Post, NBC News, WLKY, and BBC News, among others.īy contrast, one of the most widely-shared social media posts about the case - that posted by on April 16 - did a much better job of accurately (and succinctly) describing the key facts: As such, we're issuing a rating of "Mixture." However, their headlines tended to significantly over-simplify the legal issues at play in the lawsuit, and gave the impression that the worker was awarded hundreds of thousands of dollars simply because he was given a birthday party he didn't want. The full news reports typically included the most relevant details of the case, which was a disability discrimination claim that involved the employee's dismissal and had to do with his anxiety disorder. In April 2022, news outlets throughout the world reported on an unusual employment law dispute in Northern Kentucky, claiming in headlines that a jury had ordered a medical testing laboratory to pay out $450,000 to a former employee because he didn't want a birthday party at his workplace. Berling did not sue Gravity Diagnostics, or win $450,000 in compensation and damages, simply because they gave him an unwanted birthday party.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |