Michael O'Shea of Middletown worked for Vantage at their Ewing office when he was fired in the summer of 2009, one day after he requested leave to have hip replacement surgery.
TRENTON - A telecommunications company has agreed to pay a Monmouth County man $20,000 to settle allegations it violated New Jersey's Law Against Discrimination when it fired him, the state's Division on Civil Rights announced Wednesday.
Michael O'Shea of Middletown worked for Vantage at their Ewing office when he was fired in the summer of 2009, one day after he requested leave to have hip replacement surgery.
O'Shea and the Civil Rights division filed a complaint in 2013 alleging the company violated the Law Against Discrimination (LAD) when they fired him from his account manager position in July 2009.
"Disability status is protected under the law," said division Director Craig T. Sashihara said in a statement. "You can fire someone for performance reasons, but it's illegal to fire someone because he or she needs to undergo a medical procedure. It is akin to firing someone based on their sexual orientation, race or gender."
Sashihara said he hopes the case will help drive home that message to employers across the state.
The company denied engaging in unlawful discrimination and contended that O'Shea's dismissal was performance related, the division said.
During the state's investigation, Vantage claimed to have individually counseled O'Shea on numerous occasions for not meeting sales quotas weeks before his announced intention to have surgery.
Vantage management also told state investigators they did not give O'Shea advance notice about his impending dismissal because that was a standard company practice - to prevent terminated or disgruntled employees from absconding with proprietary information.
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However, a Vantage management employee who left the company sometime after his first interview with Civil Rights investigators later revised his account of O'Shea's firing, the division said.
The former manager said none of the sales staff met their quotas, which he said were unrealistic, and while the former manager's account of counseling O'Shea about his performance was accurate, all salespersons on his team were counseled and he never individually counseled O'Shea, or told him that he'd be fired if he did not meet quotas.
The former manager said, with the exception of O'Shea, he had never known Vantage to withhold notice of its decision to terminate a salesperson until the last day of employment, the division said.
State investigators also reviewed Vantage documents and found there had been an on-going internal discussion in July 2009 about offering O'Shea a different position at a lower base salary or a commission-only job.
The Division found no performance reviews or other indications that O'Shea had been formally notified his job was in jeopardy.
O'Shea was 69-years-old when he was hired in April 2008 and given a sales territory of New Jersey, New York and and Connecticut.
The division's probe also found several Vantage sales employees who were younger, or who had not requested medical leave, received written warnings and were placed on probation before being terminated and the company retained a younger, similarly-performing sales employee when O'Shea was fired.
In addition to the $20,000 settlement, Vantage has agreed to ensure it has an up-to-date anti-harassment and anti-discrimination policy in place.
Vantage does not presently operate in New Jersey, but if they do in the future, the company has to arrange for all management, staff, and human resources personnel working in the state to attend LAD training.
Kevin Shea may be reached at kshea@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter@kevintshea. Find The Times of Trenton on Facebook.
