An employer cannot legally mistreat an employee in Indiana simply because he or she has a disability. One man in another state said he recently experienced this and ended up being fired by his company. He has thus filed a workplace disability discrimination and retaliatory discharge suit against the company.
The man, a carpenter, said he was working full time at a luxury hotel. However, while he was moving some heavy furniture for the company, he tore his meniscus in his knee. After he suffered the injury, he went back to work but needed accommodations such as lifting restrictions, light duty and no squatting, bending or twisting.
The employee said the company initially permitted him to have these accommodations. However, they then reportedly told him to do work that was outside of the scope of carpenters, which included painting. This meant he had to go against the restrictions that had been placed on him in light of his knee injury. The man said the company also prohibited him from carrying the diabetic medical supplies he needed to check the sugar level in his blood. One day when he was running low on paint, he entered a guest room to seek his boss’s advice; the following day, he was allegedly suspended for showing up in an unauthorized area.
The employee was later fired. He said the company’s actions were unlawful and violated the Americans with Disabilities Act. He is seeking over $50,000 in damages. Anybody who is the victim of workplace disability discrimination in Indiana has the right to sue the company in an effort to hold it accountable for its illegal actions.
Source: cookcountyrecord.com, “Ex-employee sues Peninsula Hotel, alleging disability discrimination“, Robbie Hargett, Sept. 30, 2015
