Nicholas Stover of Lexington has filed a lawsuit against Amazon after he was allegedly fired for taking too many bathroom breaks.
Stover claims that the company knew about his Crohn’s disease when he was hired at a Winchester call center in November 2016. The illness causes inflammation in the digestive tract, which can result in stomach pack, diarrhea, fatigue and weight loss.
Employees who work in the call center were permitted two 15-minute breaks and an hour for lunch, in addition to 20 minutes of personal time a week. The lawsuit says that Stover’s supervisor accused Stover of using too much personal time and told him that he was engaging in time theft because of his excessive bathroom breaks.
Stover still requested more bathroom breaks, but his supervisors refused to give him any unscheduled bathrooms breaks and didn’t move his desk closer to the bathroom. His doctor even filled out an Amazon accommodation request form that said he must have a bathroom facility readily available.
Stover was fired Dec. 21, 2017 with an involuntary termination letter. While the letter didn’t indicate the reason why Stover was fired, a supervisor later told him he was fired for time theft.
Stover said that his termination was wrongful because it discriminates against his disability. He added that the termination caused him harm because the lack of medical coverage led to the worsening of his illness.
The Americans With Disabilities Act requires employers to give reasonable accommodations to help people with disabilities do their jobs properly.
Stover is asking for a jury trial and at least $3 million in damages.
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