A former employee has filed a lawsuit against his previous employers, alleging severe discrimination and wrongful termination. Larry Miller Jr. filed the complaint in the United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois on September 16, 2024, against Healthcare Linen Services Group, York Capital Management Global Advisors, LLC, and Superior Health Linens, LLC.
According to the court documents, Miller began working as a Linen Technician for the defendants in May 2020. His duties included packaging clean linens and preparing products for transport. However, after being diagnosed with colon cancer in 2022-2023, which exacerbated his pre-existing conditions such as diabetes and arthritis, Miller faced significant challenges at work. The medication he took required frequent bathroom breaks due to urgent bladder needs. Despite providing medical documentation from his physician detailing these needs, Miller's requests for reasonable accommodations were ignored by his employers.
Miller alleges that not only did the defendants fail to provide necessary accommodations under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), but they also retaliated against him by docking his pay, placing negative notes in his personnel file, and ultimately terminating his employment without explanation. "The need to take additional bathroom breaks did not diminish the quality or quantity of Plaintiff's work," stated Miller in his complaint.
In addition to disability discrimination claims under ADA and Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, Miller also accuses the defendants of racial discrimination. As an African American employee, he asserts that he was subjected to racial slurs from management and witnessed discriminatory hiring practices favoring Latino applicants over African Americans. He claims that African American employees received less favorable work assignments and hours compared to their Latino counterparts.
Miller is seeking several forms of relief from the court: reinstatement to his prior position, compensatory and punitive damages for both disability and race discrimination, past and future loss of wages plus interest, coverage of all legal costs including attorney fees, and any other relief deemed just by the court.
Representing Larry Miller Jr. are attorneys from Mickey, Wilson, Weiler, Renzi & Julien P.C., specifically Bernard K. Weiler. The case has been assigned Case No. 1:24-cv-8493.