![]() ![]() That lack of documentation would be akin to an employee with anaphylactic allergies providing HR with an EpiPen in case of emergency, and the employer not only casually forgetting about the allergy, but forgetting where the pen was kept. Had the HR representative been on vacation that week, a replacement or colleague could have looked at Berling’s file, seen the notes to avoid a birthday celebration, and simply foregone the festivities. Records are kept specifically so that the knowledge within them is firmly implanted, and not quickly forgotten about. Yet as a matter of general principles, there are several key lessons to be learned from this incident.įirst, Berling’s human resources manager (or whomever he had told about his accommodation requests) made an abject failure in not properly documenting the request. Finally, while courts and human rights tribunals award damages under the Human Rights Code for ‘injury to dignity, feelings, and self respect,’ they rarely reach into the six-figure level in Ontario except for the most extreme circumstances. It is also an extreme, even astonishing example of how badly and how quickly things can go wrong. This particular case is American, so we cannot comment on the state of human rights law in Kentucky. For her part, Gravity’s COO told local reporters that her employees were the true victims, and that she plans to challenge the verdict. In a verdict rendered March 31, 2022, Berling was awarded $150,000 USD for lost wages and benefits, and an additional $300,000 USD for suffering, embarrassment, and loss of self esteem. Unsurprisingly, the court sided with Berling. They terminated him immediately for failing to abide by the workplace violence policy and claimed in court that the managers were “in fear of physical harm” and remained “shaken” about the incident even two years later. Berling’s managers read his behaviour, which included a reddened face and clenched fists, as signs of aggression. ![]() Understandably, Berling began to panic once again, and conducted self-soothing practices that he had learned about in therapy, such as hugging himself and asking them to please stop.įrom there the situation only escalated. Instead of an apology, Berling was scolded for “stealing other co-workers’ joy” (evidently the birthday had little to do with his own happiness) and was lambasted for his conduct. Instead…īerling was called into a meeting with management the next day to discuss the incident. Presumably, the HR manager could have acknowledged the error, issued a simple apology, and all might have been quickly resolved. As he foreshadowed, Berling had a panic attack, and went to his car to calm down and regain control of his breathing. The employer failed to take note of Berling’s request despite telling him that they would accommodate, and threw him the surprise party anyway. Among his requested accommodations, Berling had asked that his employer not throw him a surprise birthday party, as was their workplace custom for birthdays, since he knew that it would trigger a panic episode. He had previously let his employer know about his anxiety disorder. Kevin Berling was an employee at Gravity Diagnostics. What on Earth happened at Gravity Diagnostics?!? When the employer refused to listen, things went about as badly as you could possibly imagine. In one recent case out of Kentucky, an employee had requested to keep his birthday low-key. While HR will have employee’s birth dates on file for legal purposes, some employees may want to avoid celebrations entirely, and they are entirely within their rights to do so. Similarly, not every employee is excited about acknowledging or celebrating their birthday. Some may offer the employee their birthday as a paid day off, which can also become a proud workplace tradition over time. Other workplaces treat birthdays differently. It is customary for everyone on the person’s immediate team to sign a birthday card, or some offices if they are especially collegial might share a birthday cake, or buy the person a small gift. ![]() There is no mandated or required way to acknowledge someone’s birthday at work, and thus offices generally develop their own culture over time. Each workplace celebrates birthdays on the team in different ways. ![]()
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |