ST. LOUIS — In a major victory for workers’ rights, the Missouri Court of Appeals, Eastern District, has reversed a trial court’s decision and reinstated jury verdicts in favor of Scott Caldwell in his disability discrimination and retaliation lawsuit against Unifirst Corporation and its former branch manager.
The appellate court’s opinion confirms that employers cannot use rigid, written job descriptions to force out employees with physical impairments when those employees can still safely and effectively perform their actual daily duties.
Caldwell, a former District Service Manager at Unifirst’s St. Louis branch, suffered a back injury while on the job in 2014. Despite successfully performing his duties with a temporary helper under a previous manager, a new manager explicitly revoked these accommodations. The court record showed that the manager mocked Caldwell’s injury and weight, stated he only wanted “full” and “able-bodied” employees on his team, and actively plotted to force Caldwell onto FMLA leave to “burn up” his protected time as an excuse to fire him. Unifirst ultimately terminated Caldwell’s employment, falsely claiming he needed to be able to lift 80 pounds without assistance to remain a manager.
The jury originally awarded Caldwell $150,000 in compensatory damages and $2,000,000 in punitive damages against Unifirst on each claim. The appellate court has now reinstated the jury’s verdicts for the Missouri Human Rights Act (MHRA) disability and retaliation claims, finding that Caldwell provided substantial, direct evidence of discriminatory animus and that his request for an accommodation was reasonable.
The employee was represented by Cyrus Dashtaki and the Dashtaki Law Firm, LLC. Lead trial lawyer Cyrus Dashtaki said, “This ruling is a profound victory for the dignity of every hardworking Missourian. When a massive international corporation tries to trample a worker with a disability by inventing arbitrary 80-pound lifting rules and forcing them onto unpaid leave, the Missouri Human Rights Act stands as the ultimate equalizer to ensure that this kind of blatant, offensive discrimination will not go unpunished.”
Dashtaki added, “We are immensely grateful the appellate court restored the jury’s multi-million dollar verdict, reaffirming a cornerstone of our democracy: that justice belongs not only to the powerful, but equally to the people whose voices are heard in a court of law.”
Dashtaki Law Firm, LLC is committed to seeking relief for employees who are harmed by discrimination on the basis of disability and retaliation for exercising their rights under Missouri law.
Dashtaki Law Firm, LLC exclusively represents employees standing up against employment discrimination based on age, race, sex, religion, national origin, or disability.