SHREVEPORT, La. – A Louisiana man has sued his former employer claiming it illegally required him to disclose medical information and then terminated his employment.
Plaintiff Greg Wilson filed his lawsuit against Kansas City Southern Railway, doing business as CPKC, in U.S. District Court for the Western District of Louisiana, Shreveport Division.
“Kansas City Southern discriminated against Wilson in violation of the ADA by removing him from service, requiring he disclose additional medical information, by failing to accommodate any restrictions it believed might be necessitated by his medical condition, and by effectively terminating him,” the six-page complaint states.
Kansas City Southern operates trains across the United States. Wilson resides and worked for Kansas City Southern in Shreveport.
In 1996, the railroad hired Wilson as a conductor. He claims he worked for nearly three decades as a trainman without issue, until June 2024.
An Army veteran, Wilson suffers from service-related Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, a medical condition that requires continuing treatment from a health care provider.
According to the lawsuit, when his PTSD is triggered, he suffers from anxiety, nervousness and irritation. A flare-up of his PTSD also causes him to struggle to breathe and interact with others, he claims.
Wilson claims in the filing that when he needs to attend an appointment for his PTSD, he relies on FMLA leave.
The Family and Medical Leave Act, or FMLA, is a federal labor law that provides eligible employees with up to 12 weeks of unpaid, job-protected leave per year for qualifying family and medical reasons.
In 2024, Wilson claims he took FMLA leave for his qualifying condition.
Soon after, Kansas City Southern removed him from service and demanded medical records, claiming Wilson’s disability now prevented him from safely doing his job.
“Kansas City Southern had no reason to believe that Wilson’s medical condition affected his ability to perform his job,” the complaint states. “Still, Wilson went to his doctor and provided the additional medical information to Kansas City Southern confirming Wilson could safely perform his duties.”
Afterwards, the railroad demanded Wilson and his doctors provide even more medical information, including a medical monitoring report, with information about not only his mental health but also his physical capacity.
Kansas City Southern then removed Wilson from service without pay.
Wilson argues the railroad’s request for medical information and subsequent termination violates the FMLA and the Americans with Disabilities Act, or ADA.
He asks the federal court to order Kansas City Southern reinstate him, award him compensatory damages, pay him an award for emotional distress, award him attorney’s fees, pay him an award of $300,000 for punitive damages for each ADA violation, and award him liquidated damages.
Davis Saunders & Miller in Mandeville, Louisiana, is representing Wilson in the action.
