Tuesday, July 5, 2011

County Gets Ripped Off By Employee

From the Las Vegas Sun: Clark County commissioners approved Tuesday the payment of $150,000 to settle a lawsuit by a former University Medical Center data technician diagnosed with claustrophobia, a condition that arose when she was forced to work in a cubicle.
Jayne Feshold was a data technician hired by the county-run hospital in 1999. Her suit says she "worked without incident" until May 2007. Then the hospital's medical records department was moved to a new building and she was assigned to work in an area "consisting of a small cubicle workspace instead of a more open environment."
Soon after, she began to exhibit "symptoms of severe anxiety, making it impossible for her to work efficiently." Her symptoms were later diagnosed as the result of claustrophobia, a fear of enclosed spaces. Her supervisor was sympathetic and let her work in an open area.
A new supervisor a few months later, the lawsuit says, forced her to work in a cubicle. Her anxiety grew to such a degree that she sought help at UMC's emergency room in July 2007. When she found she would not be allowed to work in an open environment, she found a new job as a guard in UMC's Labor and Delivery Unit.
Then in February 2008, she filed a request to be accommodated under guidelines of the Americans with Disabilities Act — she wanted to work in more open space. The suit says two doctors made similar diagnoses of claustrophobia.
http://www.lasvegassun.com/news/2011/jul/05/county-pay-150000-claustrophobic-former-employee/
So, how does this lady go to the bathroom? Most bathrooms in a house are about the same size as cubicle. And if you go out in public, does she leave the bathroom stall door open? Has she ever been in a car or bus or does she walk everywhere? How does she handle walking up stairs since the stairway is narrow and she obviously cannot ride an elevator.
While this lady may clausterphobia, she better not be seen in a car, elevator, public bathroom etc., otherwise she is a fraud.
The ADA American Disabilities Act) has been a godsend for the lawyers, as the lawyer in this case made a little over $60,000 while the plaintiff got about $89,000. The ADA has been abused by people claiming all sorts of disabilities and then suing.
My guess is that the County wanted to settle as the cost of settling would have been cheaper than taking it to court. And with the jury system in Clark County, I don't blame them as the dumbest people seem to be the ones who get on the juries and award outrageous awards as we have seen in the past. Just like the case involving the drug company in the Hepatitis C case in Las Vegas. A jury awarded $500,000,000 to the plaintiff because the doctors didn't follow the directions ont he medicine bottle.
http://lasvegasbadger.blogspot.com/2010/05/12-buffons-make-mockery-of-las-vegas.html
But hey, it's just taxpayer money, right?

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