HARRISBURG — A motion for summary judgment has been filed in a lawsuit brought by a man who claims that he was discriminated against because his service dog went with him to donate plasma.
CSL Plasma Inc. filed the motion for summary judgment on March 2, claiming that its medical staff had determined that plaintiff George F. Matheis Jr. was not eligible, at least temporarily, to donate plasma due to severe anxiety, unpredictable panic attacks and the use of multiple medications.
CSL said in the motion that it is not "a place of public accommodation" and that its deferral of the plaintiff was proper.
In its motion, CSL further stated that deferring someone with severe anxiety is a safety issue for the donor and for others.
CSL also said that it did not unlawfully discriminate against George F. Matheis Jr. and that it deferred him based on legitimate safety requirements.
The medical staff allegedly made the decision based on Matheis' severe anxiety, claiming that donors must be deferred if the donation process may hurt the donor's health, according to the motion.
Matheis is a veteran of the armed forces and a retired police officer, according to the complaint, which was filed on May 3, 2017 in the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Pennsylvania.
Matheis allegedly suffers from post-traumatic stress disorder and has a service dog.
The plaintiff claims that he regularly donated plasma at CSL Plasma and made between $250 and $300 per month from the donations.
When Matheis went to the defendant's East York location in December 2016, he allegedly was told by an employee that he would need "'to talk to the nurse' before he was permitted to donate." He was then asked numerous questions by another employee regarding his disability, according to the complaint.
Matheis claims that the nurse informed him that the only service dogs allowed were seeing-eye dogs. The nurse subsequently refused to let him donate.
The defendant then allegedly informed Matheis that he would be required to produce a letter from his physician certifying his fitness to donate plasma without his service dog before he could donate again, according to the suit.
Matheis claims that he was humiliated, embarrassed and angry at the treatment that he allegedly received from the defendant's employees.
The plaintiff claims that the defendant violated the Americans with Disabilities Act by discriminating against him based on his disability.
Matheis is seeking compensatory and punitive damages and to enjoin the defendants from discriminating against him on account of his disability.