Fibre to pay $175,000 in discrimination suit settlement
Tuesday, June 3, 2008 11:22 PM PDT
By Erik Olson
The Daily News
Printable version
E-mail this articleLongview Fibre Paper and Packaging Co. has agreed to pay $175,000 to settle a discrimination suit filed on behalf of a disabled Kelso worker, who said the company withdrew a job offer after learning of his spinal injury and need for pain medication.
The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission announced the settlement on behalf of Scott Harshbarger Tuesday morning. The EEOC had filed suit on Harshbarger behalf in September.
The alleged Americans with Disabilities Act violation took place in the fall of 2006, about six months before Fibre was sold to the Canadian firm Brookfield Management Associates. Under terms of the settlement, Fibre does not admit any wrongdoing.
Harshbarger’s spinal injury, which he suffered while working in a shipyard in 1990, required him to take a daily methadone dose to control pain but did not otherwise affect his ability to do the engineering aide job the company found him qualified for in September 2006, according to the EEOC.
Harshbarger, 45, who now works as a self-employed contractor refurbishing homes, said the settlement bars him from commenting on the case and referred questions to EEOC attorneys.
Frank McShane, Fibre’s chief operations officer, could not be reached for comment Tuesday.
Fibre officials rescinded a job offer a month after making it after learning Harshbarger was taking prescription methadone, a powerful narcotic commonly used for pain medication, said Lisa Cox, trial attorney for the EEOC.
“You can’t just screen out people like that. You need to do an individual assessment,” Cox said.
After his injury, Harshbarger underwent four surgeries to fuse the vertebrae in his spine, Cox said. “The pain is probably going to be with him forever and probably going to get worse.”
In addition to paying the $175,000 to Harshbarger, Fibre is required to review its discrimination policies, train employees about prohibited discrimination and voluntarily provide information to the EEOC concerning its handling of discrimination complaints for two years, according to the commission.
By federal law, the maximum settlement for a discrimination claim is $300,000, Cox said. The $175,000 settlement is significant because an agreement on such a high amount was reached so quickly, she said.
In November, the state Supreme Court ruled against Fibre in a similar case involving discrimination against a potential job hire. In a 9-0 decision, the court ruled that Fibre officials illegally denied Stacy Hegwine of Kelso a job as a clerk and order checker because she was pregnant, overturning a 2005 decision by Cowlitz County Superior Court Judge Stephen Warning.
devils advocate wrote on Jun 3, 2008 6:54 PM:
the dude wrote on Jun 3, 2008 8:10 PM:
I hope Mr. Harshberger gets the job. I'm sure that the employees left down there are happy to have him. "
UW Squirrels wrote on Jun 3, 2008 11:22 PM:
Justaguy wrote on Jun 4, 2008 8:02 AM:
thinkin' wrote on Jun 4, 2008 9:33 AM:
zenith wrote on Jun 23, 2008 5:18 PM:
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