Former cook Jerry Gallon is suing Oakland’s Merritt Bakery for discrimination after he was fired just a week after suffering an epileptic seizure on the job. Gallon worked at the bakery/diner for eight months starting in 2009, and had been working the night shift when he felt a seizure coming on. As the Chron reports, he claims the restaurant would not allow him to leave work before it came on, and that the next day he was moved to the day shift, ostensibly so that more employees would be on hand if this happened again.
But seven days later he was laid off for what the restaurant said were economic reasons. Charles Griffis, whose wife owns the restaurant, also says Gallon “got a bad attitude,” which put him at the top of the list for layoffs. In Gallon’s suit, he notes that the restaurant proceeded to hire at least one new employee after his layoff, so he thinks they must not have been hurting too badly.
The suit is in federal court, and the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission is suing the bakery for “failing to provide reasonable accommodations for its disabled employee.” We’re not sure if there are damages being claimed here too, but the struggling bakery probably cannot afford those, after they needed multiple bailouts from the City of Oakland in the last two years.
Oakland restaurant sued for discrimination [Chron]
Earlier: Merritt Bakery Gets Bailout, But Still Might Not Survive
