Facts

Plaintiff, 61, was employed by blue jeans company Citizens of Humanity LLC as a quality control inspector. He sued his employer following his termination, alleging causes of action for retaliation, disability discrimination and failure to provide reasonable accommodation.

PLAINTIFF'S CONTENTIONS:
Abarca worked for 22 years in a garment factory. In 2006, he was recruited by Agustina Manzano to work at Citizens of Humanity LLC in the Quality Control Department. Abarca would use a pallet jack to drag the pallet over to the Quality Control inspection tables, then lift each box off the pallet for inspection, take the jeans out, and sort them by size.

Between 2006 and 2011, plaintiff contended he began to develop pain in his shoulders due to the repetitive lifting, bending, and carrying of boxes and the pallet jack. He spoke to Manzano, his supervisor, about the pain, in response, she told him to ask others for help, and that he would be fired if he did not do his job. Plaintiff continued to suffer through the pain. Although his coworkers would occasionally help him, they did not do so consistently, and Manzano did not follow up with him or report his injury to the HR representative or her immediate supervisor.

Plaintiff contended that after he injured his shoulder on the job, he was restricted from lifting more than 20 pounds. Once his restriction ended, Citizens of Humanity failed to accommodate him, choosing to terminate his employment instead. Plaintiff claimed that when he was called into the HR Representative's office to be fired, plaintiff claimed he was forced to sign documents wrongly stating that the date of his injury was Aug. 28, 2012, the date he was terminated, even though he had been injured well before this date and the company was aware of it.

DEFENDANT'S CONTENTIONS:
Citizens of Humanity contended that plaintiff was terminated for poor job performance.

Result

The jury returned a verdict for plaintiff, awarding him $650,000 in damages, including $550,000 in punitive damages.

Other Information

FILING DATE: Sept. 20, 2013.

Length

17 days