The company, however, has denied any wrongdoing. In a statement, Kenton circuit court judge Patricia Summe said that Berling was able to perform the essential functions of his job with or without reasonable accommodations but suffered an adverse employment action because of that disability, The Guardian reported. The sacked worker then subsequently filed a lawsuit in Kenton County, seeking damages and compensation for lost income.Īfter the trial at the end of March, the jury awarded Berling $450,000, including $300,000 for emotional distress and $150,000 in lost wages. However, a few days later, he claimed to have received an email from the company “informing him that he was being terminated because of the events of the previous week”. Berling even apologised for having a panic attack. The meeting again triggered a second panic attack, after which the firm sent the lab technician home. The following day, Berling was “confronted and criticised” at a meeting and was accused of “stealing his co-workers joy” and “being a little girl”, the lawsuit claimed. He then quickly left the party, practised breathing exercises and finished his lunch in his car. The 29-year-old accused the company of bais as he had urged the office manager not to throw a birthday party for him when he first joined in 2018.ĭespite Berling's request, the company, which conducts COVID-19 tests, threw him a surprise party in August, triggering a panic attack. There’s a lesson here: take your anxious co-worker seriously when they say they do not want an office party.Kevin Berling, who was working as a lab technician at Gravity Diagnostics in Covington, claimed in his petition that the unwanted birthday party in 2019 gave him anxiety and panic attacks, BBC reported. Gravity Diagnostics believes that Berling violated a “workplace violence policy” and thus stands by the decision to fire him.īerling’s attorney argued that the office misunderstood Berling’s panicked response and assumed he was a threat, adding that “assuming that people with mental health issues are dangerous without any evidence of any violent behaviour is discriminatory”. His lawsuit alleged that the company discriminated against him because of a disability and unfairly retaliated against him for asking that his request be accommodated.Īfter all that, Berling has been granted $450 000 (around R6,6 million) in damages – $300 000 for emotional distress and $150 000 in lost wages. On 11 August, Gravity Diagnostics fired him, citing concerns about workplace safety. The tense meeting prompted a second panic attack, after which the company sent him home for the remainder of 8 August and 9 August. The lawsuit notes that Mr Berling was “confronted and criticised” at a meeting the following day (after he had a panic attack and swiftly left the office party), where he was accused of “stealing his co-workers joy” and “being a little girl”. The lawsuit alleges that the company discriminated against Berling because of his disability, reported BBC: He simply did not want the stress that comes with his colleagues lining up to shout celebrations as he struggles with severe anxiety and is prone to panic attacks that bring back difficult childhood memories.īut the company decided to cross that boundary anyway, and now they’re forced to pay a hefty sum thanks to a lawsuit filed against them by Berling. That’s why Kevin Berling asked his colleagues at Gravity Diagnostics (a Kentucky company that now conducts COVID-19 tests) not to throw him a surprise birthday party in 2019. Not everybody wants to celebrate their birthday with a surprise party in the office.īesides being occasionally awkward (if you don’t particularly know or like your co-workers), they can also be anxiety-inducing. The Dark Side Of New York’s Most Glam Strip Club Exposed In $25 Million Lawsuit.Chaos And Lies Exposed In Brooklyn Beckham And Nicola Peltz's Wedding Lawsuit. The Craziest Things Junior Doctors See In Hospitals.Buttered Bathroom, Detergent Hallways, Graffiti Walls Airbnb Host Shares Video Of Apartment Trashed By "Sick" Guests.What's The Beef Between Black Lives Matter And Adidas?.
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But the way the song makes you ponder the different outcomes and decisions and ask, “Was it worth it?” is what makes it unique. “Wait in the Truck” is more vengeance fantasy than cautionary tale. Though you have to give credit to “Wait in the Truck” for its boldness and for actually telling a story, do we really find it believable, and do we really want to endorse this type of mercenary justice? There are two sides to every story, and according to the song, the domestic violence victim didn’t even really tell hers in detail. There are a few caveats to throw in with all the praise this song is receiving. It’s just a shame it has to be done in a “feat.” slot again, though this is leagues better than her recent #1 single with Cole Swindell, or her own current single “Heart Like a Truck.” With a new album out in late October to be chased by appearances on the blockbuster TV show Yellowstone, Lainey’s poised to have a big finale at the end of 2022 when this song could also be topping radio charts. Lainey Wilson comes in as the victim of the beating, and her appearance on a song like this once again places her front and center as one of the more forward-thinking and more country voices currently in the mainstream. The story is then carried over to the court and jail, where the audience is forced to grapple with considering if the narrator of the story is a hero, or a sinner, or a strange combination of both. Telling the story of a stranger rolling through town and finding a woman on the side of the road who’s been beaten by her boyfriend, the protagonist then hunts the boyfriend down and kills him unrepentantly, later smoking a cigarette on the porch, patiently waiting for the police to arrive. It’s not exceptional, but it is exceptional for mainstream country. Part revenge story, part murder ballad, it can’t be pile-driven home enough just how unusual it is for a song like this to be presented to the mainstream audience. Written by Hardy with Hunter Phelps, Jordan Schmidt and Renee Blair, “Wait in the Truck” is a story song, and not a succinct one. Usually the aim of most of today’s radio country is to shut your brain off. But his new song “Wait in the Truck” featuring Lainey Wilson is stimulating a lot of discussion-something that’s novel for a country radio single all unto itself. But it’s not 2014 anymore where we’re in the throes of Bro-Country, and dry heaving at the emergence of Sam Hunt.Įven though some mainstream fans will praise him like he’s the modern day Townes Van Zandt or something, HARDY has been mostly been one of the bad guys in mainstream country, crafting songs for Florida Georgia Line, Thomas Rhett and the like, along with some of the worst singles from better artists like Dierks Bentley. This most certainly doesn’t mean there still isn’t dreck being dumped into the country radio format, and like the solids in a cesspool, that tend to rise to the surface, and fester. At this point, lashing out at any artist on corporate radio is an act of muscle memory, and often unlearning those motions is harder than learning them. It’s going to be hard for some distinguishing music fans to acknowledge that the paradigm in mainstream country is shifting. |