LAKE CHARLES, La. – A Sulphur man with high-functioning autism and mental retardation has filed a lawsuit against his former employer, alleging he was discriminated against and wrongly terminated.
Plaintiff Brian D. McClane filed his lawsuit February 23 in U.S. District Court for the Western District of Louisiana, Lake Charles Division.
McClane alleges defendant Kim Kool Inc., a Sulphur-based company that specializes in the design and manufacturing of heat exchangers and cooling packages for industrial applications, terminated his employment after he reported harassment by three fellow employees to the Sulphur Police Department.
“Plaintiff was terminated for the ‘hostile work environment’ of which Plaintiff had repeatedly complained to management, while the actual, non-disabled harassers were not disciplined in any way, much less terminated,” his 15-page complaint states.
McClane began his employment with Kim Kool as a technician/core builder in October 2022. In early August 2023, Canon Burnworth, Thomas Elie, and Justin Garcia joined the company.
It was soon after – and after learning McClane was autistic – that the new employees allegedly began making "embarrassing, degrading, and harassive” comments based on his condition, which he was diagnosed with as a child.
According to the lawsuit, other employees witnessed Burnworth “repeatedly” make these comments directly to McClane.
In addition, they allegedly kicked McClane in the shin for “not picking up fast enough,” trapped him in his vehicle and threatened to attack him if he tried to leave, stole his speakers, dumped hand sanitizer and oil on him, and hit him in the genitals.
The final straw, the complaint states, was when Burnworth intentionally hit McClane in the back of the head with piping on Oct. 18, 2023. The incident left McClane “altogether disoriented and significantly injured,” and forced him to seek medical treatment at a nearby hospital. He began suffering from migraine headaches as a result of the alleged attack.
According to his filing, McClane repeatedly complained and reported the harassment to his direct supervisor, an assistant manager, and the company’s owner.
“Despite Plaintiff’s repeated pleas for help, management repeatedly refused to take any remedial action whatsoever,” the complaint states.
Following the Oct. 18, 2023 incident, McClane reported the harassment and his injury to Sulphur Police. In response, an officer appeared onsite to interview McClane and several of Kim Kool’s employees.
According to the filing, management admitted to the officer that there had been “some reports” of bullying and that it was a “couple of people teaming up on this one guy.”
Two days later, on Oct. 20, 2023, McClane claims he was “suddenly and unexpectedly” terminated. The reason given was that he “contributed to a hostile work environment.”
McClane argues this reason was based “entirely on knowingly false allegations” provided by the three employees the same day, in an attempt to “create a paper trail” to terminate McClane.
Had any of the three employees “truly had issues with” McClane, he contends they would have reported him to Kim Kool management “long before” Oct. 20, 2023.
“The face of the ‘witness’ statements indicate that they were not the result of purported ‘harassment’ but were, instead, explicitly requested by Defendant’s management as a means of smearing Plaintiff’s otherwise satisfactory workplace behavior in an effort to justify his otherwise illegal termination,” the complaint states, adding that he worked at the company for more than a year with no issues.
McClane alleges Kim Kool violated the Americans with Disabilities Act, or ADA, in terminating his employment.
“Defendant’s discrimination is willful, intentional, and committed with malice or reckless indifference to the protected rights of Plaintiff,” the filing states.
“Defendant had actual knowledge of the disability-based harassment and refused to take any meaningful action to remedy the same at any time during Plaintiff’s employment.”
McClane points out that less than 48 hours passed between his statements to police and his termination.
“This less-than-two-day lapse between Plaintiff’s documented protected activity and termination is sufficiently close to demonstrate that Plaintiff’s protected activity was a ‘but for’ cause of Defendant’s decision to terminate him,” the complaint states.
McClane seeks back pay, front pay, compensatory damages, punitive damages, attorney’s fees, and pre-judgment and post-judgment interest.
Lake Charles firm Sudduth & Associates LLC is representing McClane in the lawsuit.
