Kennedy Hunt P.C. recently filed a civil rights lawsuit against Axel Transportation in the Saint Louis County Circuit Court for alleged discrimination and retaliation against our client based on her child’s disability in violation of the Missouri Human Rights Act.
According to the lawsuit, our client was employed by Axel Transportation for one year, from June 2022 to June 2023. Our client’s child has a serious condition that substantially affects one or more major life activities.
Per the lawsuit, the Chief Operation Officer at Axel Transportation told our client in December 2022 that the company does not offer Family and Medical Leave of Absence (FMLA).
The lawsuit alleges:
In or about December 2022, Plaintiff told the COO that Axel would likely be required to provide FMLA in January 2023 due to the size of the company and the number of workers, so they would need more standby drivers to cover any such leave. The COO told Plaintiff that Defendant’s owner and president would not be happy with that. The COO told Plaintiff that Axel did not have FMLA and would not offer it. The COO told Plaintiff she should not ask for FMLA for herself.
Federal law requires employers with 50 or more employees in a 75-mile radius to provide FMLA for employees who have worked at their company for at least one year and have clocked at least 1,250 hours in that time.
According to the lawsuit, our client informed Axel Transportation she’d request FMLA once she’d worked at the company for at least one year, but on her one-year work anniversary, Defendant terminated Plaintiff Gray’s employment.
The lawsuit alleges that Defendant falsely claimed it eliminated Plaintiff’s position and in fact assigned Plaintiff’s job responsibilities to another employee who did not have a disabled child.
According to the lawsuit, as a direct and proximate result of the above-described acts, our client has suffered lost wages and benefits of employment, as well as emotional distress and mental anguish.
The lawsuit claims Axel Transportation took the alleged actions with malice, willfulness, and reckless indifference to our client’s rights.
This lawsuit seeks compensation for our client’s lost wages and benefits, emotional distress, punitive damages, attorney’s fees and costs of litigation, and such other relief that this Court deems just and proper.
This case is ongoing.
For more information, contact attorney Nicole Matlock at nmatlock@kennedyhuntlaw.com. If you or someone you know has been a victim of discrimination, our skilled attorneys at Kennedy Hunt, P.C. may be able to help you. Fill out a questionnaire so we can understand your claim.