Photo: Getty Images
A Kentucky man was awarded $450,000 in a lawsuit against his former employer over an unwanted birthday party.
Kevin Berling, who suffers from anxiety disorder, reportedly asked Gravity Diagnostics not to celebrate his birthday on August 7, 2019 because it would trigger a panic attack, according to a lawsuit filed against the company in Kenton County court and obtained by NBC News.
The company ignored his request and instead had a surprise lunchtime celebration, which caused Berling to get upset and lead to his termination days later.
Berling was awarded $450,000 on March 31 after a jury found that he suffered an "adverse employment action" due to his anxiety disability, according to court documents obtained by NBC News.
In the 2019 lawsuit, the company said it has a practice of having birthday celebrations at the office for employees and it surprised Berling with a party in the lunchroom.
The lawsuit said Berling experienced a panic attack, quickly left, finished the rest of his lunch in his car and texted his manager about the company failing to meet his request.
Berling said he was called into a meeting the next day, where he "was confronted and criticized" for his reaction, which "triggered another panic attack," the lawsuit states.
"At the conclusion of this meeting and because plaintiff had a panic attack, plaintiff was sent home from work for the remainder of August 8 and August 9," the lawsuit added.
Berling received a letter on August 11 notifying him of his termination "because of the events of the previous week," the lawsuit states.
Berling sued Gravity Diagnostics on allegations of disability discrimination and retaliation.
Gravity Diagnostics Founder and Chief Operating Officer Julie Brazil told Northern Kentucky news website Link NKY that the company fired Berling for violating a "workplace violence policy" and said the company stood by its decision, adding that there had been an increase in workplace violence prior to the incident.
"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 said.
Berling's attorney, Tony Bucher, denied the allegations, claiming his client posed no threat to the company.
"I think the significance for employers is that they need to understand that they shouldn’t make assumptions about individuals with mental health issues. Kevin was an exceptional employee that went above and beyond for his employer and if they would have taken a step back it would have been clear that he did not present any danger at all," Bucher said in a statement obtained by NBC News.