WHAT’S BEING CLAIMED:
- A man was awarded $450,000 by the court after he was given a surprise birthday party at work.
- The man claims that the party triggered his panic attack.
- His company fired him shortly after.
A Kentucky man was paid $450,000 after his coworkers gave him a birthday party at work against his will.
In August 2019, Kevin Berling, 29, was working as a lab technician at Gravity Diagnostics in Covington when his coworkers held a lunchtime celebration for him.
Berling claimed he had a panic attack as a result of the unwanted attention and was fired from Gravity Diagnostics shortly after. According to legal documents obtained by The Washington Post, he later filed a compensation suit against the corporation.
“Managers started giving him a hard time for his response to the birthday celebrations,” Tony Bucher, Berling’s attorney, told local TV news outlet WKRC. “They actually accused him of stealing his co-workers’ joy.”
When Berling first started at the company in 2018, he allegedly begged the office manager not to give him a birthday celebration.
The manager, on the other hand, “forgot” his request, and the office celebrations went on as planned, causing Berling to have a panic attack. He was compelled to run to his car, where he tried to recover for an hour.
The next day, firm executives met with Berling to discuss his behavior. This triggered a second panic episode.
Berling was sacked from Gravity Diagnostics less than a week later, with employers saying they were “worried about him being angry and possibly becoming violent.”
As a result, the lab technician missed out on becoming a part of Gravity Diagnostics’ rapid expansion during the COVID pandemic. According to the Independent, some employees were granted 300 percent raises at the time.
Following his dismissal, the fired employee filed a case in Kenton County, demanding damages and reimbursement for lost wages.
During both of his panic attacks, Bucher told WKRC that his client was simply “using coping techniques to calm himself down,” and that there was no risk of his turning violent.
A 12-person panel unanimously granted Berling a $450,000 verdict against the corporation on Friday.
According to the court’s decision in Berling’s favor, the amount comprises $120,000 in lost income and benefits, $30,000 in future wages, and $300,000 for “past, present and future mental pain and suffering, mental anguish, embarrassment, humiliation, mortification, and loss of self-esteem.”
The ruling was “improper,” according to Gravity Diagnostics, which said it would appeal if needed.
A company spokesperson also argued that the matter should never have gone to trial in the first place since Berling failed to declare that he had a condition (anxiety) and engaged in threatening behavior against a female supervisor following the birthday celebration.
Gravity Diagnostics also emphasized their “commitment to zero tolerance for violence in the workplace”, and said that “employers are entitled to and indeed should take prompt action… in this era of workplace violence.”
Source: New York Post
2004done
April 20, 2022 at 7:27 am
Did other tech-employees get birthday parties, or was he surprised to be singled out after 2-3 years? If he had gone postal, the lawsuits would have been much more. I’ll wish the company well, to appeal seems proper, but foolish
glenn398
April 20, 2022 at 11:52 am
He gave them fair warning before the had the party and they totally ignored it. So good for him on his winning the lawsuit, they deserved to loose.
Steve
September 13, 2022 at 7:28 am
You are as big a moron as he is.
gyr.amat
September 13, 2022 at 5:22 pm
and you are a raving douchebag…..
Old Man
March 3, 2023 at 9:02 am
You’ve gotta be an attorney.
JAMES LYMAN WAREHAM
June 7, 2022 at 10:24 am
This use of the legal system is improper and very costly to America as a whole. Anxiety disorder is a serious issue and should be respected and treated as such. However, the misuse of our courts for this type of unique circumstance is wrong. We need arbitration and/or other alternate systems for this. How much of the “prize” did the attorney take?
Steve
September 13, 2022 at 7:26 am
“His company fired him shortly after.”
Karma.
Babsan
September 13, 2022 at 12:13 pm
Man do we live in strange society nowadays
Old Man
March 3, 2023 at 9:04 am
“His company fired him shortly after.”
After ‘stealing’ half a million dollars from the company, he probably couldn’t care less.