A federal jury has found that the U.S. Postal Service failed to provide a postal worker in Auburn with reasonable accommodation for his disabilities and awarded the former letter carrier $150,000.
After a week-long trial, the jury on Tuesday awarded Steven Heath of Gray $60,000 in back pay, $70,000 in compensatory damages and $20,000 in punitive damages, according to documents filed in U.S. District Court.
Heath, who has severe tendinitis in both arms, became a “modified letter carrier” in the mid-1990s. He sued the postal service in 2013, alleging that his managers and co-workers harassed him about his physical and mental disabilities, including post-traumatic stress disorder, and failed to accommodate his disabilities. As a result, according to court documents, he suffered a “significant increase” in anxiety and depression and was unable to work.
Heath was declared permanently disabled in 2006 and left his job.
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