Berling had clearly told his colleagues the reason why he couldn't celebrate his birthday and he would very much like to avoid a birthday party. However, ignoring his requests, his colleagues went on ahead to surprise him at lunchtime. This triggered an unwanted panic attack. Not only this but instead of admitting their mistake, Berling's employees 'confronted and criticized' him.
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A Kentucky man has managed to win a whopping $450,000 in a payout after he was surprised with a birthday celebration despite requesting them to not do it.
In the lawsuit filed in Kenton County court, Kevin Berling - who suffers from an anxiety disorder - requested that his old employer, Gravity Diagnostics, did not do anything to mark his birthday because it could trigger a panic attack.
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However, when lunchtime came, his employee sprung on his and Berling got terribly upset. Things only spiraled out of control several days later when Berling was fired.
On March 31, Berling took an action against his old employer when a jury found that he had suffered an "adverse employment action" and awarded him $450,000, per court documents obtained by NBC News.
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Berling's trouble with Gravity Diagnostics dates back to August 2019 when he put in a special request with his office manager not to celebrate his birthday - as was a tradition within the company.
Berling had explained to his company clearly the reason why he does not want a birthday party and how it could trigger a panic attack. But his colleagues undermined his problem and went ahead with the surprise.
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According to the lawsuit Berling filed against the company, he suffered a panic attack at the celebration and quickly escaped to his car, where he hid for the remainder of the break.
Then the next day he was called into a meeting with managers and instead of receiving an apology, they "confronted and criticized" Berling for his anxious reaction.
"This confrontation triggered another panic attack," the lawsuit reads. "At the conclusion of this meeting and because plaintiff had a panic attack, plaintiff was sent home from work for the remainder of August 8 and August 9."
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On August 11, Berling was sent a letter in which he was informed that his employment had been terminated "because of the events of the previous week.
Berling was left shocked and successfully sued his former employees for disability discrimination and retaliation.
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Meanwhile, Founder and COO of Gravity Diagnostics Julie Brazil told Link NKY that Berling was fired for a different reason - "workplace violence."
"My employees deescalated the situation to get the plaintiff out of the building as quickly as possible while removing his access to the building, alerting me and sending out security reminders to ensure he could not access the building, which is exactly what they were supposed to do," she said.
Though the court supported Berling, resulting in a massive payout as compensation.