Caltrans must pay $3 million after losing appeal in worker's perfume allergy lawsuit

[TexasTowelie]

Caltrans must abide by a jury’s decision to award $3 million to an employee who claimed his supervisors harassed him by ignoring his allergies to perfume and several cleaning products, an appeals court ruled Thursday.

The ruling appears to leave Caltrans little room to keep fighting the award, which a Nevada County jury set in May 2017 after a one-month trial.

Employee John Barrie, 62, of Grass Valley, filed suit after supervisors repeatedly ignored directives to keep perfumes and cleaning chemicals like Windex and Comet away from him starting in 2010. He said his supervisor called him an “idiot” and a “jerk” and that after his desk was moved he would sometimes find his things soaked in perfume.

Caltrans contested the jury’s $3 million figure. A trial court judge sided with the department, ruling the award was “so excessive as to indicate that it was prompted by passion, prejudice, whim or caprice” on the part of the jury.

Read more: https://www.sacbee.com/news/politics-government/the-state-worker/article228565254.html

[PoindexterOglethorpe]

1. Dear lord.

That is a degree of harassment that deserves a major settlement.

[Tech]

2. I have asthma and perfumes and cleaning products can definitely be triggers for me

It is adult onset asthma, something I had never heard of until I ended up in the hospital. The only other time I had been in the hospital for care was when I had my daughter.

I used to keep my personal fragrance free cleaners at my desk when I could still work. Not being able to catch ones breath is disconcerting and life threatening. I don't know if this is the reaction the person had. I was lucky to have understanding co workers and bosses.

Having asthma, I pay more attention to climate change and it seems more people are having health problems because of it. As a result, as a society, changes and allowances will have to be made.

As a former manager, this should not have been allowed to happen. I would hope the lesson is that what some think of as a prank can be life threatening.