Posted on 04/15/2022 5:27:14 PM PDT by nickcarraway
If you are going to throw a birthday party for an employee, make sure that person wants one. A recent case proved to be costly for a northern Kentucky medical testing company.
Kevin Berling took his former employer to court after claiming to suffer a panic attack and arguing that his stress caused him to lose his job, WLKY-TV reported. Jurors in Kenton County Circuit Court agreed this week and awarded Berling $450,000, the television station reported.
According to Berling, in August 2019 he asked the office manager of his employer, Covington-based Gravity Diagnostics, not to hold a birthday celebration for him, the Courier-Journal reported. Being the center of attention causes him immense stress, Berling said, according to court documents.
On Berling’s birthday, Aug. 7, 2021, his office arranged for a lunchtime party, WLKY reported. Berling said he suffered a panic attack after learning about the surprise luncheon, according to the television station.
“The person who was responsible for the birthday parties who he talked to flat out forgot about his request,” Berling’s attorney, Tony Bucher, told Link NKY. “She didn’t do it to be mean. She said she would accommodate it and she just forgot.”
According to court documents, Berling left the office and spent the lunch break in his car.
Berling sent a text message to the office manager, and the next day he was called into a meeting, WLKY reported.
“According to my client, she started reading him the riot act and accused him of stealing other co-workers’ joy,” Bucher told Link NKY. The meeting then triggered another panic attack, and Berling asked the office manager to stop, according to the lawsuit.
“The way (the Gravity Diagnostics employees) say it, they believed he was enraged and possibly about to get violent,” Bucher told Link NKY.
Bucher claimed that Berling did not make any threatening gestures, the website reported.
Berling said he was sent home for the next two days and was notified that weekend that he was being fired “because of the events of the previous week,” WLKY reported.
Berling sued Gravity Diagnostics on the grounds of disability discrimination and retaliation, according to court documents. According to the lawsuit, Berling said that since Gravity Diagnostics did not accommodate his anxiety disorder, the birthday party and the events afterward caused him “to suffer from a loss of income and benefits and emotional distress and mental anxiety.”
The $450,000 awarded by the jury included $300,000 for emotional distress and $150,000 for lost wages, WLKY reported.
Julie Brazil, Gravity Diagnostics founder and COO, said the verdict does not represent facts or the company’s employer rights by law.
“My employees de-escalated the situation to get the plaintiff out of the building as quickly as possible while removing his access to the building, alerting me and sending out security reminders to ensure he could not access the building, which is exactly what they were supposed to do,” Brazil told Link NKY. “As an employer who puts our employee safety first, we have a zero-tolerance policy and we stand by our decision to terminate the plaintiff for his violation of our workplace violence policy.
“My employees were the victims in this case, not the plaintiff.”
Brazil said her company is challenging the verdict, according to Link NKY.
Here’s Happy Birthday being played on the world’s smallest violin.
All should be guilty of inappropriate behavior for a first grader and made to stand in the corner for time out.
If you put your employees safety first, you certainly did not do that for Mr. Berling. In fact, you disregarded his requests, his needs to feel secure, and then went on to compound it even further. You and your staff failed.
Awesome Birthday Gift !
Earlier thread: https://freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/4055332/posts
I dont want to sound like a bleeding heart or lastly “woke” but I agree. Panic attacts are very real.
Goodness! Do I ever have a surprise for my wife come time for my birthday. Talk about easy money. Do you suppose it will work every year?
This guy is the ultimate party pooper.
Now he’s really the center of attention.
Duplicate
Nice rack, but seriously 450K for getting his feelings upset?
This country is done.
No, I do not want a Birthday party
$450,000 later, can you hear me now?
No employer has the God given right to humiliate a person, just because that person happens to work for them. Your intentions do not matter. The person DID NOT WANT the attention; yet that attention was forced upon him
If I would have been on the jury, that man’s great grandkids wouldn’t have to work
I’ve been on a jury where a roof job issue turned into a multi-year $$$ drama due to both sides feeling dissed and digging their heels in. We didn’t award the plaintiff’s very much in that case, though they “suffered” from the ordeal. The roofer defendant was so convinced of his rightness he walked out when the verdict was read. He was truly offended this couple would try to besmirch his good name and business when he had tried to make it right.
Are they throwing a you won the lawsuit party as well?
Some people go to work, and want nothing more than to do their job and get a paycheck. If I do something nice, add something to the paycheck or promote me. That’s it
Parties are not in the job description. “Because YOU want to do someone”, is as valid as saying “I want to sleep with your wife”. You are imposing your will upon someone else. And you are threatening his employment as a condo on of your imposition. Nope
Introverts are quite happy to mind their business. They do not demand you do anything, at all. Show them the same basic respect - or pay dearly, your call
Yep.
Plus hes a guy, so he is just expected to take this kind of treatment and just be grateful he has a job at all.
If he was a woman theyd be going for millions and the optics would not have the company top officers talking about appealling the ruling.
When I don’t want a party, I just walk out. This country is being ruined by lawyers and thin skinned folks. Really a sad state of affairs. I wouldn’t have given him anything.
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