Possible Age/ Disability Discrimination In Firing?

[ExMechanic]

What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? New York

Yesterday, I was fired from my job as a mechanic for a large landscape/ lawn care company. During the meeting with the owner, mention was made of two areas which lead me to believe that I was wrongfully fired in violation of both Federal and New York State Labor Laws.

The owner cited an incident in which a track had come off of a small excavator machine out on a job site. I had responded to this service call, but had asked one of the crew members to do the necessary prying on the heavy track (approximately 500 lbs) since I have an inguinal hernia and cannot physically do that type of heavy lifting or prying. When I was hired, the owner knew of my hernia -- in fact, at the time of hire I was scheduled for hernia repair surgery which had to be re-scheduled at the owner's insistence. The surgery later fell through & was canceled, but the owner was definitely aware of my disability at the time he hired me. In any case, this was specifically cited as one reason for my firing.

I also suspect age discrimination. I am 52 years old, and cannot move as quickly as a person half my age. I was the oldest person employed by this company, with the remainder of the employees being under the age of 35. While the owner did not specifically cite my age as a reason for my firing, he did cite my inability to move as fast as the rest of the employees.

If it makes any difference, the owner did offer a good reference -- in his words, "You're a great mechanic". He is also paying me out for the remainder of the week (a standard 40-hour week instead of the 46-52 hour weeks I have been getting).

My question is do I have a good case for age or disability discrimination against my former employer, and could there be substantial monetary damages?

[Beth3]

Having a hernia which can be surgically repaired does not qualify as a disability under the ADA - it's a temporary medical condition which you can have corrected by rescheduling the surgery.

Regarding your age, that's a "maybe." Regardless of your age, you do need to meet the expectations of the job you hold. What I can't tell from your post is how much slower you are in getting the job done than the other mechanics you work with.

[ExMechanic]

Perhaps I should have been more clear... I was the only mechanic. My job title was actually "Maintenance Supervisor", and I was in charge of all repairs & maintenance for 11 trucks & a plethora of lawn care & landscape equipment. He is also comparing apples to oranges -- there is a big difference between mowing a yard and repairing that mower. As for my job performance, it was exemplary. At the time I was hired, 4 of the 11 trucks were mechanically down/ 5 of the 11 trucks were operating without valid & current New York Vehicle Safety Inspections/ several pieces of landscape equipment were out of service. By the time I was let go (90 days later), only one truck was out of service (a bad starter that had gone out that day)/ all trucks had passed their New York Vehicle Safety Inspections/ all lawn care & landscape equipment had been repaired, serviced, and was operating/ a maintenance tracking program had been implemented to ensure proper maintenance scheduling & performance. So there is no way that my actual job performance could be called into question.

My point about the hernia was that when he hired me, he knew and understood my limitations -- this was discussed at length -- and he supposedly did not have a problem with them. For him to use my limitations now as a justification for firing me is not proper.

[Beth3]

I agree that letting you go because you have a hernia and can't do the heavy work at present, which he was fully informed about and agreed to when you were hired, is unfair. That doesn't make your discharge illegal though. Temporary medical conditions that can be corrected with surgery, medication, etc. just don't qualify as a disability. Sorry.