PITTSBURGH – A former administrative assistant at a hospice has sued her ex-employer over a claim that she was fired after being diagnosed with breast cancer and was told by the defendant that she was "very expensive to employ.”
Dorri Hall filed a lawsuit on April 14 in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Pennsylvania against Bridges Hospice, Inc. alleging a violation of the Americans with Disabilities Act and Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964.
While employed as an administrative assistant from March 31, 2014 to Nov. 25, 2014, Hall was diagnosed with breast cancer in May 2014, followed by three surgeries in June 2014, July 2014 and November 2014, the suit says. She had a five-pound lifting restriction for four to six weeks following her July 2014 surgery, she alleges.
According to the claim, her employer was aware of that. And, according to the lawsuit, she was fired on Nov. 25, 2014 when management told her she was ``very expensive to employ” and “was not a fit.”
Hall is seeking an accumulation of seniority, fringe benefits and all other rights as well as reimbursement for lost pension, Social Security, experience, training opportunities and other benefits.
Hall, who is demanding a jury trial, is being represented by attorney Samuel J. Cordes of Samuel J. Cordes & Associates in Pittsburgh.
U.S. District Court for the Western District of Pennsylvania Court Case number 2:16-cv-00428-RCM