Sonoma County, Calif., allowed health care caseworker George Alberigi, 52, to interview Medi-Cal clients by phone from his home, by way of accommodating his psychiatric conditions, namely panic disorder and agoraphobia (fear of public places). Then in 2001 he applied was considered for a promotion. The county turned him down on the grounds that the higher-level job The county discontinued his at-home accommodation and unilaterally transferred him to a position that required meeting clients in person. Disheartened, Alberigi went on permanent medical disability. Now a jury has awarded him $1.5 million in lost wages and $5 million in other damages including pain and suffering. The county will probably seek a new trial, according to its lawyer. “Alberigi also won attorney fees, which could add another six figures to the county’s cost, said his lawyer, Steve Murphy of San Francisco.” (“Jury awards $6.5M to panic disorder patient in job bias suit”, AP/Sacramento Bee, Mar. 16). Update May 21: judge cuts award to $2.5 million.

More: Jon Coppelman at Workers’ Comp Insider (May 24) says that contrary to our first account the promotion in question was not one that Alberigi sought, but was imposed by the county, which did not wish to continue with the at-home-interviewing accommodation. More broadly, Coppelman is far more impressed with the case’s merits than we are, finding it significant that 1) Alberigi’s psychiatric disabilities were undisputedly genuine; 2) kind things had been said about him in earlier performance evaluations. In revamping their prerequisites for caseworker jobs in a way disadvantageous to Alberigi, he writes, management “decided to shake up his narrow world and force him out of a nurturing situation” and “need to be held accountable for their actions”.

Filed under: disabled rights