A jury awarded more than $2 million to a former Orlando, Fla.-area Burger King employee who sued after claiming she was fired solely because she had to use a trachea tube to breathe.
Ashley Merard, of Orlando, sued franchisee Magic Burgers LLC in the U.S. District Court in Orlando. About a year before working for the company in 2017, she was in a car accident that led to her needing the tube, according to the lawsuit.
She was hired by a general manager who was informed about the tube and saw it during her initial interview, but a “higher management official” then came to the store after she started working and said she had to go because of the tube, the lawsuit says.
She was terminated in August 2017, “for no other reason given other than her disability,” according to the lawsuit, which sought damages for violations of the Americans with Disabilities Act.
She had worked there for six weeks, her attorney, David Barszcz, told the Orlando Sentinel in a phone interview Monday.
“You can’t tell her to take the tube out. She’d die,” Barszcz said. “It’s a question of right and wrong, and that’s wrong.”
The lawsuit did not identify the Burger King’s location, and Barszcz would only say it was in the Orlando area because of management changes there.
The jury on May 4 awarded $2 million in punitive damages, as well as $30,000 for emotional pain and mental anguish, and $15,519.60 for lost wages, court records show.
Magic Burgers plans to appeal the verdict, according to one of its attorneys, Jesse Drawas.
The $2 million award could also be potentially reduced. There are statutory caps that the company’s attorneys plan to seek a reduction, Drawas said.
Barszcz also said under the Americans with Disabilities Act punitive damages are capped at $300,000 for businesses with more than 500 employees.
Magic Burgers said in court documents that Merard voluntarily left her job without notice.
“She simply stopped showing up to work without telling anybody,” Drawas said in a phone interview.
But Barszcz disagreed, and pointed out Merard, now 21, is employed and a student.
“People don’t normally show up to work after you fire them,” he said. “She’s very hard working.”
