Bambi Eloriaga-Amago
For stinking up the office, Richard Clem was given the boot. But he and his wife, Louann, are crying foul and have filed a lawsuit against their former employers, the Case Pork Roll Company.
When Richard first started working for Pennsylvania-based company Case Pork Roll in 2004, he had a pork roll of his own —he weighed in at a hefty 420 pounds. In 2010, to address his obesity problem, he underwent gastric bypass surgery. He lost 120 pounds, but unfortunately, the procedure also resulted in distressing side effects. Richard started experiencing extreme flatulence and uncontrollable diarrhea. In 2013, the symptoms worsened and Richard was consequently fired from the job. According to the lawsuit, Richard was causing a “significant disruption in the workplace.”
Louann, who also worked for Case Pork Roll, reports that company president Thomas Dolan continuously complained and said things like, “We cannot run an office and have visitors with the odor in the office… Tell Rich we are having complaints from people who have problems with the odors.”
Louann, feeling her husband was unduly being harassed and embarrassed, quit the same day Richard was fired. She then took it upon herself to file a lawsuit against the company, claiming his termination from work violated the Americans with Disabilities Act.
In an interview with the Huffington Post, the Clems’ lawyer, David Koller, said, “Flatulence and farting is [sic] the sexy part of the story, but my client suffers from obesity, which is covered by the Americans with Disabilities Act… I’m speaking up for people who are overweight. Does being obese mean you can’t do a good job? Of course not!”
But Mark Davis, a California-based defense attorney, thinks the case is just full of gas. He also tells the HuffPost, “I don’t know if his employers could help with reasonable accommodations because he’s making it uncomfortable for other employees… Plus, his explosive bouts of diarrhea make it hard for him to do his job.”
