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Unwelcome office birthday party leads to $450K verdict, lessons on disability law

May 2022 employment law letter
Authors: 
Ryan Stevens, Frost Brown Todd LLC

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.

Berling had long suffered from a diagnosed anxiety disorder. He experienced panic attacks, which caused him to hyperventilate, shake, and weep. Nevertheless, he had never experienced a panic attack while working at Gravity Diagnostics, until his office birthday party.

Gravity Diagnostics enjoys hosting birthday celebrations for employees. The company places each worker’s birthday on a calendar in the breakroom. It purchases a birthday cake for coworkers to share. Banners or balloons are hung to create an atmosphere of celebration!

On the Friday before his birthday, however, Berling informed his office manager that he preferred not to be honored with a party. He explained the celebration could trigger a panic attack.

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