PHILADELPHIA – A forklift driver/warehouseman is suing his former employer over a claim that he was let go because of his age and his medical disabilities that included diabetes.
Wayne Hatcher filed a lawsuit April 22 in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania against Laird Plastics, Inc. alleging a violation of the Age Discrimination in Employment Act and the American with Disabilities Act.
Hatcher, 64, was hired by Laird Plastics on or about January 2004 as a forklift driver and warehouseman, according to the suit, which alleges that toward the end of his employment up until the time he was fired, Hatcher was one of the oldest, if not the oldest, of the company’s warehousemen.
Hatcher, who has diabetes and a speech impediment, performed his job well, according to the claim, and would occasionally require reasonable accommodations such as short breaks to eat in order to raise his blood sugar or to change an insulin pump.
According to the claim, management would constantly harass Hatcher about working faster and on Aug. 19, 2015, he was informed by management that his “numbers were down” and he was fired.
Hatcher is seeking past lost earnings, salary and pay increases as well as liquidated damages and punitive damages.
Hatcher, who is demanding a jury trial, is being represented by Ari R Karpf of Karpf, Karpf & Cerruti, P.C. of Bensalem.
U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania Court Case number 2:16-cv-01913-JHS