PHILADELPHIA – A chaplain with a gastrointestinal condition has filed litigation claiming she was discriminated against in her workplace because of that very same condition.
Cookie A. Magee of Aston filed suit in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania on May 28, versus Delaware County, in Media.
Magee was hired by Delaware County as a spiritual chaplain. When hired, she was assigned to Fair Acres Nursing Home – after submitting to a medical examination at the request of defendant, which revealed that she has a disability for which she has permanent gastrointestinal tubes implanted in her body.
On Jan. 8, 2018, Magee was hospitalized because of an immediate need to replace a gastrointestinal tube. She then called Cynthia Borrelli, Director of Social Services at the nursing home to inform her of the hospitalization.
Magee was hospitalized for a week from Jan. 10, 2018 to Jan. 17, 2018, while her medical issues were attended to and Borrelli was advised of said issues. Borrelli allegedly told Magee on Jan. 18 that she should “stay home until she felt better.”
“On Jan. 29, 2018, plaintiff was terminated by defendant and explicitly told it was because of her hospitalization. When plaintiff asked if she could reapply for the position, a representative from defendant’s human resources department told her she could not, because her feeding tube could cause her to miss time again in the future and thus they would not consider her application,” the suit states.
According to Magee, the County claimed that her status as a “probationary employee” allows them to discriminate against plaintiff based on her disability. Magee asserts she was unfairly and illegally singled out with this alleged treatment.
For counts of violating the Americans with Disabilities Act, the plaintiff is seeking an award granting back pay, front pay, reinstatement to his position, reinstatement/restoration of all job benefits, compensatory damages and other compensation allowed by law, punitive damages, attorney’s fees, costs and such further relief as the Court deems necessary and appropriate.
The plaintiff is represented by Jake D. Becker and Mary-Ellen Allen of Lamb McErlane, in West Chester.
The defendant has not yet secured legal counsel.
U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania case 2:20-cv-02513
From the Pennsylvania Record: Reach Courts Reporter Nicholas Malfitano at nick.malfitano@therecordinc.com