On November 12, a complaint was filed in the Eastern District of Pennsylvania against Heartland Pharmacy of PA, LLC, for violations of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) and Title VII of the Civil Rights Act. This complaint alleges that the management of Heartland Pharmacy deliberately took punitive employment actions against the plaintiff, while disregarding his disability.
The plaintiff was the manager of one location in the Heartland Pharmacy of PA chain. The plaintiff received an unwelcome sexual advance from the regional purchasing manager, which was acknowledged at the time it occurred by the general manager of the chain, but no substantive disciplinary actions were taken. After the birth of the plaintiff’s daughter, the plaintiff received several critical and disparaging remarks regarding the custody of the infant from the regional purchasing manager, the general manager, and the assistant manager from the location the plaintiff was the manager of. These comments included: “a. telling Plaintiff that there were ‘easier ways to have a baby than with a crazy person;’ b. telling Plaintiff that his ability to travel was limited because of his child and custody dispute; and c. telling Plaintiff that he was ‘too stressed.’” The plaintiff continued working through these comments, but after raising inquiries regarding future purchasing decisions, the plaintiff was placed on a retaliatory performance improvement plan. This plan was terminated early after the plaintiff made a final appeal to the general manager regarding the prior comments and the general manager responded that the plaintiff “should ‘go on Tinder’ and ‘hook up’—as she claimed she did in her divorce— because it would ‘make [Plaintiff] feel better.’” When the plaintiff declined, the termination was processed without further accommodation or opportunity to object.
The complaint lists four causes of action, including violation of the ADA for failure to accommodate, retaliation under the ADA, violation of the civil rights act for gender harassment, and retaliation under Title VII due to response to the gender harassment. The plaintiff is represented by Hahalis & Kounoupis, P.C.; there is no entry to date for the defendants.
