Marriott Hotel San Francisco to pay disabled employee $31m in damages
A San Francisco jury’s decision will see the Marriott Marquis Hotel pay $20 million (AUD $31m) for failing to accommodate an employee’s disability.
A 13-day trial concluded last week, finding the hotel managers did not make reasonable accommodations for long-time concierge staffer, Daniel Callahan.
The court also found the hotel did not participate in a timely, good-faith process to determine if such accommodations could be made.
“This intelligent, diligent and hard-working jury saw through Marriott’s bogus attacks on Mr. Callahan, who was a great employee for decades,” Callahan’s lawyer, David DeRubertis, said.
Callahan worked for nearly 30 years at the hotel, continuing even after a spinal cord injury in 2014, which, according to his lawsuit resulted in him needing to use a cane and prosthetic device.
Callahan was able to assist hotel guests while switching between sitting and standing at his workstation, though was no longer able to do so following a renovation in 2019 that saw the area altered.
Callahan asked his employer to address the issue on multiple occasions, leaving in 2019 when his doctors determined it was no longer medically possible for him to stay on the job without changes to his work area.
He was awarded $5m and $15m (USD) for his pain and suffering damages and punitive damages respectively.
Marriott’s lawyers did not return a request for comment from CBS news.
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