PHILADELPHIA – A former customer services representative with US Airways claims that she was not given a reasonable accommodation for her disability, which led to her being wrongfully terminated.
Claudia King filed a lawsuit on Nov. 16 in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania against US Airways Inc. citing a violation of the Americans with Disabilities Act.
On or about April 28, 2014, King, while working as a customer service representative, was exposed to hazardous cleaning fumes and required hospitalization, where she was placed on medical leave of absence from the date of the exposure until May 26, 2014, the complaint states.
During her leave of absence she saw the doctor several times, who diagnosed her with lower back pain, leg pain and hypertension, according to the complaint. According to the lawsuit, these conditions constituted physical impairments under the American Disabilities Act, yet she was still able to perform her job with reasonable accommodations.
Despite allegedly sending the airlines three requests for a reasonable accommodation at the workplace, she assumed she had been fired and applied for unemployment. Around Aug. 8, 2014, she received a phone call from management informing her that she could return to work, the complaint states.
She alleges she requested from the airlines to accommodate her disability by allowing her to sit on a stool while working at the ticket counter. King claimed she never received a response to that request. According to the lawsuit, the airlines made the assertion that the ticket counter position she had been placed on did not comply with the work restrictions set by King’s doctor.
Following an Oct. 3, 2014, meeting that included her union representatives and airline management, King claims that she has not been allowed back to work.
According to the complaint, on or about Dec. 30, 2014, she filed a charge of discrimination with the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission and received correspondence from the EEOC on Oct. 1 with a notice of right to sue.
King is seeking damages of no more than $150,000 for back and front pay, court costs, compensation for health insurance premiums and other costs. She is represented by Michael Murphy and Michael Groh of the Murphy Law Group LLC in Philadelphia.
U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania Case number 2:15-cv-06143-LDD