DEREK SMITH LAW GROUP WINS $510,000 FEDERAL JURY VERDICT FOR FATHER FIRED OVER HIS CHILDREN’S DISABILITIES

Allentown, Pennsylvania – A federal jury in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania has returned a unanimous $510,000 verdict in favor of Jonathan Rideout, a warehouse driver fired by LB Water Service, Inc. just three days after he returned from medical leave and told his new manager that his two young children have significant disabilities.

Following a jury trial before the Honorable John M. Gallagher, the jury found LB Water liable on both of Mr. Rideout’s claims, associational disability discrimination and retaliation, under the Americans with Disabilities Act and the Pennsylvania Human Relations Act. The jury deliberated approximately two hours before returning its verdict.

The evidence at trial showed that Mr. Rideout, a commercial driver and father of two children with disabilities, left a thirteen-year career at his prior employer for LB Water’s family health coverage, which his children’s weekly therapies depended on. For two years, he worked a modified Tuesday schedule so his daughter could attend therapy. On August 29, 2023, his first day back from approved medical leave, he told his brand-new manager about his children and his schedule. Two days later, that manager singled him out, alone among a warehouse full of employees, for an indefinite after-hours on-call assignment with no end date. Mr. Rideout offered to carry the duty as part of a rotation, as the company had always done. He was fired within three days of disclosing his children’s disabilities. His termination letter gave no reason at all.

“The jury saw what the documents showed: a devoted father who offered to take his turn and was fired anyway,” said Ian M. Bryson of Derek Smith Law Group, PLLC, who tried the case. “The last thing Jonathan said before they fired him was that he had family commitments at home. Eight jurors heard that sentence and told this company, unanimously, that firing a worker because his children have disabilities is against the law. Jonathan just wanted to be made right, and today he was.”

The $510,000 award compensates Mr. Rideout for emotional distress and loss of enjoyment of life. The Court will separately determine his lost wages, including back pay and front pay, prejudgment interest, and attorneys’ fees, which are expected to increase the total recovery substantially.

The case is Rideout v. LB Water Service, Inc., No. 5:25-cv-04766, in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania.

Derek Smith Law Group, PLLC represents employees nationwide in discrimination, harassment, and retaliation matters, with offices in New York, Philadelphia, Los Angeles, Miami, and other major cities. Learn more at dereksmithlaw.com.

Derek Smith Law Group, PLLC
1628 Pine Street, Philadelphia, PA 19103
267-857-0849
ian@dereksmithlaw.com
https://discriminationandsexualharassmentlawyers.com/
Press Contact : Ian Bryson, Attorney

Distributed by Law Firm Newswire

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