Man with brain injury files discrimination suit vs PMIC

A 57-year-old man who suffered brain injury allegedly due to many years of exposure to solvents at his jobsite filed a discrimination lawsuit in federal court yesterday after his employer terminated him as a mechanic/waste material recycler, apparently due to his disability and age.

Adolfo M. Lumbad sued the Pacific Marine and Industrial Corp. for violation of the American with Disabilities Act of 1990, differential treatment on medical benefits, termination based on disability, breach of contract, violation of the Age Discrimination in Employment Act, and infliction of emotional distress.

Lumbad filed the lawsuit without a lawyer.

The plaintiff asked the U.S. District Court for the NMI to issue a permanent injunction preventing PMIC from engaging in any employment practices that discriminate on the basis of disability and age.

Lumbad demanded payment for damages, costs of medical care, lost earnings and employment benefits, attorney’s fees, and court costs.

He also asked the court to order PMIC to perform its obligation to pay for his medical care by making provisions for the payment.

PMIC is the operator of Power Plant 4 in Puerto Rico, Saipan. The Saipan Tribune tried to obtain comments from PMIC management, but no one was reportedly available as of press time.

Lumbad stated in the complaint that he was employed by PMIC in the position of a mechanic but was assigned to work in its chemical and hazardous materials section as a material waste recycler beginning March 14, 2001. He worked continuously until his discharge on Feb. 5, 2008.

Lumbad said he was exposed to chemical solvents for seven years while in the performance of his duties as a material waste recycler.

He alleged that from 2003 to 2007, he repeatedly requested protective equipment from PMIC. However, Lumbad said, the company refused to do so.

Sometime in 2004, plaintiff started feeling dizziness, was nauseous, felt as if his eyes were popping out, and had abdominal pain and headache. He continued to experience the same symptoms until 2007, when he started losing weight and felt increasingly weak.

Lumbad was seen at the Commonwealth Health Center several times and was diagnosed with an enlarged spleen.

He said it was recommended by the doctor that he avoid proximity to all volatile hydrocarbon solvents and be assigned to other job duties.

Lumbad was referred to St. Luke’s Hospital in the Philippines for further examination due to his long-term history of exposure to organic solvents.

In June 2007, Lumbad went to St. Luke for medical examination. Laboratory tests indicated that he had brain injury (chronic hematoma at the left thalamus of the brain, and chronic infarct of the left internal capsule) and an enlarged spleen.

Lumbad said his eyes were also affected by his exposure to solvents.

Lumbad said his medical treatment and examination at St. Luke’s was discontinued due to the refusal of PMIC’s health insurer to provide coverage. Lumbad said he asked PMIC to pay for his medical expenses, but the company refused.

He alleged that PMIC also told his wife that his contract will not be renewed when he returns to the CNMI because he was “too old.”

He said that sometime in June and July 2007, he asked the company several times to transfer him to a different position such as a groundskeeper, maintenance worker, driver or expediter because of his medical condition. Lumbad said the transfer was a reasonable accommodation that PMIC was required by the ADA to make.

PMIC, he said, denied his requests repeatedly and required him to continue working as a waste material recycler, again without the proper safety equipment.

“Providing proper safety equipment was a reasonable accommodation under the ADA that the defendant was required to make,” Lumbad said.

On Feb. 5, 2008, PMIC gave Lumbad a notice informing him that his contract will not be renewed upon its expiration on March 5, 2008.

Lumbad insists that he was terminated due to his disability and his age.