The federal Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) is suing a New Jersey-based company that operates a plant in Newnan after an employee was allegedly fired due to a disability.
Gregory Packaging, Inc., a nationwide manufacturer and distributor of juice products to school districts and medical institutions, violated federal law by firing an employee because of his disability, the EEOC charged in a lawsuit it recently filed, according to an Oct. 6 press release.
According to the EEOC press release, the employee worked as a machine operator in the packaging department at the company’s Newnan plant.
The suit claims the employee operated the machine that assembled the boxes used to ship juice products to Gregory Packaging’s customers. Despite his good job performance and the ability to perform his job in a safe manner, Gregory Packing fired him after learning of an impairment affecting the employee’s immune, hemic and lymphatic systems, EEOC said.
The EEOC complaint alleges that Gregory Packaging admitted it terminated the employee because of his impairment.
Such alleged conduct violates the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), EEOC said in the press release.
EEOC filed suit in U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Georgia after first attempting to reach a pre-litigation settlement through its conciliation process. As part of the suit, the EEOC is seeking back pay and compensatory and punitive damages, as well as injunctive relief prohibiting the company from engaging in any future employment practices that discriminate on the basis of disability.
EEOC said Gregory Packaging, headquartered in Morristown, N.J., also operates plants in New Jersey and Arizona and distributes juice products under the trade name Suncup.
