Confidential
Settlement – $310,000Judge
Court
USDC Northern
Attorneys
Plaintiff
Defendant
Jocelyn Burton
(Burton Employment Law)
Experts
Plaintiff
Carol R. Hyland M.A.
(technical)
Facts
Plaintiff worked as a letter carrier for the defendant since 1985. In 1994, she was injured in a non-work-related
automobile accident, and missed two months of work. The plaintiff claimed that she was disabled due to
injuries from the accident. Thus, when she returned to work, she needed to be placed on light duty. The
plaintiff alleged that in order to accommodate her injury, she requested a pushcart to help her deliver the mail.
The plaintiff asserted that her request was denied.
The plaintiff contended that pursuant to the terms of the union contract, she was able to continue performing
light duty work for one year. The plaintiff argued that when her year of light duty ended, the defendant required
her to undergo a medical examination. The plaintiff alleged that immediately after this examination, when her
supervisor received a medical report concerning her disability, she was wrongfully terminated.
The plaintiff maintained that the contents of the medical report convinced her supervisor that she would be
unable to perform her duties. However, the plaintiff asserted that the medical report was inaccurate because she
was performing some of her duties without incident or complaint.
The plaintiff claimed that defendant perceived her as disabled, and discriminated against her by unlawfully
terminated her in violation of 29 U.S.C. Section 791,794. The defendant argued that plaintiffÆs supervisor
reasonably believed she could not perform any of her duties based upon the doctorÆs report. Therefore, it
asserted that if she was unfit for duty, accommodations were unnecessary. Furthermore, the defendant
contended that the accommodations requested by plaintiff would have been an undue burden.
The defendant maintained that plaintiff was ultimately reinstated through the union process, so she was not
wrongfully terminated.
Other Information
By the trial date, plaintiff had been reinstated and had obtained her back wages through union arbitration. Thus, plaintiff sought damages only for emotional distress. After trial, plaintiff was awarded $296,074 in attorney fees. The defendant appealed the verdict on the grounds that plaintiff had not exhausted her administrative remedies. However, before the matter was heard before an appellate court, the parties entered into a settlement agreement. The defendant admitted no liability in settling the case.
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