PITTSBURGH — A senior technical writer is suing former employer Respironics Inc., doing business as Phillips North America, citing alleged failure to uphold Americans with Disabilities Act regulations; age and gender discrimination; and retaliation.
John Winegarden filed a complaint on April 20 in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Pennsylvania against the defendant, alleging that the former employer violated the Civil Rights Act, the Age Discrimination in Employment Act and ADA regulations.
According to the complaint, the plaintiff alleges that in early 2011, he was diagnosed with depression, which impaired one or more major life activities, and needed to use vacation and sick time to see his psychologist and psychiatrist. After disclosing his condition to his supervisor, he was subjected to discrimination and disciplinary actions, he says. On Feb. 20, 2015, he was terminated on grounds of behavior issues and vague performance issues, he says, alleging that as a direct result, he suffered loss of wages and benefits. The plaintiff holds the defendant responsible because the defendant allegedly failed to provide accommodations, denied other positions because of his age and depression, replaced him by a less qualified younger, non-disabled female and failed to provide promised meetings with HR.
The plaintiff requests a trial by jury and seeks judgment against the defendant and for all available relief for willful and malicious violations of federal law. He is represented by Erik M. Yurkovich of Erik M. Yurkovich Attorney at Law in Wexford, Pennsylvania.
U.S. District Court for the Western District of Pennsylvania Case number 2:16-cv-00477