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SACRAMENTO BEE ARTICLE ABOUT ROBY v. McKESSON
A former worker at McKesson Corp.'s West Sacramento
distribution center has been awarded $19 million by a jury
that found she was unfairly fired because her panic disorder
caused her to miss too much work.
Charlene Roby, 57, formerly of Orangevale, was
terminated after missing 10 days of work over 14 months, said
her attorney, Christopher H. Whelan of Gold River. He said
that amounted to discrimination and harassment against Roby
because of her disability.
The Yolo County civil jury awarded Roby $15
million in punitive damages and $4 million in compensatory
damages in decisions reached Friday and Monday.
McKesson spokesman James Larkin said the San
Francisco company was "extremely disappointed with the outcome
of the case."
"We do not believe that the verdicts are supported
by the facts or the law," he added. "And the company intends
to vigorously pursue all available legal remedies, including
an appeal, if that is necessary."
Larkin said he could not discuss details of
the case.
The bulk of the compensatory award - or some
$2.7 million - was given on the basis of emotional distress.
Of that amount, $2.2 million was assessed against
the Fortune 500 company, while another $500,000 was awarded
against Roby's immediate supervisor, who Whelan said was found
to have harassed Roby.
"She was a 25-year employee whose performance
was exemplary for 24 years," said Whelan. "She was affected
by this mental condition, and they couldn't even cut her any
slack for these absences."
Whelan said the company penalized Roby, a liaison
with customers, because of her disability, violating her protections
under the Family Medical Leave Act, the California Family
Medical Rights Act and the Fair Employment and Housing Act.
The company's absenteeism policies, he said,
were not consistently followed and not fully understood by
workers at the site.
Roby, who moved to Grants Pass, Ore., after
her April 2000 firing, said Tuesday that she suffered deep
embarrassment on the job over her panic attacks, which brought
offensive body odor.
When she arrived for work, she said, she sometimes
found "shampoos, deodorants, bath soaps, things like that
on my desk." She would sweep those into a drawer, but "go
into a head sweat."
Her supervisor, Roby added, would bring pies
or trinkets into the office for co-workers and exclude her.
"I wanted to let it go," she said. "It was
petty to me."
But after Roby exhausted her six sick days
and used four vacation days for illness, she was asked to
resign or be fired, she said. Roby refused to resign and was
terminated effective April 14, 2000, she said.
"Now because of the whole thing, I'm agoraphobic
(afraid of public places)," Roby said. "It's hard to deal
with. It brings on the reaction, head sweats and shaking and
... I do self-mutilation. I've dug at my arms; I'm all scarred."
Roby said she believed the company turned its
back on her.
"If it hadn't been for a few co-workers," she
said, "I think (it) would have killed me."
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