A district service manager fired in the wake of back troubles won nearly $6.5 million from a St. Louis County jury.

“The moment he informed them that he was going to file a workers’ comp claim, they placed him on unpaid leave,” said Cyrus Dashtaki of the Dashtaki Law Firm. “He never returned to work again. They wouldn’t let him.”

Scott Caldwell, an employee of UniFirst Corporation, was diagnosed with a lumbar disc herniation in January 2014 and sought reasonable accommodations for his job, which involved supervising route drivers, scheduling, customer service and other duties.

Caldwell’s suit said that the company was cooperative at first, but management became unhappy 11 months later when another doctor’s note requested time off for treatment. A third note requesting lifting restrictions was “brushed off” by his supervisor and he was assigned more strenuous work.

When the plaintiff informed management that he had filed a workers’ compensation claim, he was placed on non-paid medical leave the following day. After having back surgery, he expressed a willingness to come back in four weeks with restrictions and 8-10 weeks without them.

However, he was placed on extended unpaid medical leave again. The company denied his request for accommodation and indicated they were replacing his position. The following month, he was fired.

Dashtaki said that the defense claimed that the plaintiff was unable to do his job and was unable to lift the required 80 pounds. He countered that Caldwell could get the same work done by lifting items in smaller increments.

“You don’t need to lift 80 pounds at once to do that job,” he said. “Nothing on the truck weighed over 25 pounds.”

James Paul of Ogletree Deakins, an attorney for the defense, didn’t return a request for comment.

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$6.46 million verdict

Employment

Breakdown: $450,000 in compensatory damages and $6 million in punitive damages against UniFirst; $2 in compensatory damages and $4,000 in punitive damages against Seever

Venue: St. Louis County Circuit Court

Case Number/Date: 17SL-CC02248/April 14, 2023

Judge: Joseph Walsh III

Injuries: Termination

Caption: Scott Caldwell v. UniFirst Corporation and Michael Dean Seever, II

Plaintiff’s Attorneys: Cyrus Dashtaki and L.E. Beck, Dashtaki Law Firm, St. Louis; Melvin Kennedy, Law Offices of Melvin Kennedy, St. Louis

Defendants’ Attorney: James Paul, Ogletree, Deakins, Nash, Smoak & Stewart, St. Louis