Managers at Southwest Airlines fired a flight attendant without considering that his medical condition might qualify as a disability. As a result, Southwest now has to pay $80,000 that a jury awarded the attendant.
The attendant suffered from psoriasis – generally not considered a disability – but also from arthritis linked with the skin condition. When in the throes of an arthritic flareup, which could occur three or four times a month, he found it agonizing to walk.
After the attendant violated the airline’s absence policy, he was fired. But he sued for disability discrimination and won. And an appeals court has just upheld the jury’s back pay award.
<cite>Cite: Carmona v. Southwest Airlines.</cite>
The attendant suffered from psoriasis – generally not considered a disability – but also from arthritis linked with the skin condition. When in the throes of an arthritic flareup, which could occur three or four times a month, he found it agonizing to walk.
After the attendant violated the airline’s absence policy, he was fired. But he sued for disability discrimination and won. And an appeals court has just upheld the jury’s back pay award.
<cite>Cite: Carmona v. Southwest Airlines.</cite>
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