PHILADELPHIA—A Croydon woman is suing her former employer, a generic pharmaceutical formulations company, over claims of discrimination and retaliation.
Tina Retzler filed a lawsuit on Jan. 12 in U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania against Bio-Pharm Inc., alleging violations of the Civil Rights Act, the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA), the Americans with Disabilities Act, and the Pennsylvania Human Relations Act.
Retzler worked for the defendant as a packer for approximately 12 years. During the last period of her employment with Bio-Pharm, Retzler suffered from various health conditions, including anxiety, a heart valve disorder and hyperlipidemia, limiting some of her daily activities and occasionally requiring intermittent time off from work.
The suit alleges the defendant failed to inform Retzler of her individualized FMLA rights and instead reprimanded her for her absences.
During this time, Retzler also believed she was being discriminated against by the defendant's management, including Ami Shah and Kinnari Shah, because she did not share the same national origin as the majority of her coworkers, who were of Indian descent, according to the suit.
Retzler complained in writing of this treatement, after which she was allegedly subjected to increased hostility and animosity from Bio-Pharm management, eventually resulting in her termination for what she says were pretextual reasons.
Retzler seeks compensation and reimbursement, liquidated and/or punitive damages, attorney fees, and other costs of the suit. She is represented by attorney Ari R. Karpf of Karpf Karpf & Cerutti in Bensalem.
U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania Case number 2:16-CV-00121-GJP