A Louisiana man has filed a lawsuit against his former employer, alleging discrimination and retaliation under federal and state disability laws. Kevin Michael Trevino filed the complaint in the United States District Court for the Western District of Louisiana on September 10, 2024, against Waste Management of Louisiana, L.L.C.
Kevin Trevino, who resides in Lafayette, Louisiana, began working for Waste Management as a Container Technician on March 17, 2017. In May 2022, Trevino underwent an outpatient procedure to have an Implantable Cardioverter-defibrillator Dual Chamber inserted. Following his recovery, he provided medical documentation from his cardiologist releasing him to return to work without restrictions on July 6, 2022. Despite repeated attempts to communicate with various members of Waste Management's management team—including Austin Horne, Senior People Manager—Trevino received no response regarding his request to return to work.
The situation escalated when Trevino reached out directly to James C. Fish Jr., President and CEO of Waste Management, on July 8, 2022. On August 3, after further communication with Horne about potential accommodations for his condition, Trevino was terminated from his position. The termination letter falsely claimed that he was permanently unable to perform essential duties and that there were no alternative positions available.
Trevino alleges that Waste Management's actions were retaliatory and discriminatory based on his disability. He claims the company failed to provide reasonable accommodation as required under the Americans with Disabilities Act Amendments Act (ADAAA) and violated the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA). Additionally, he asserts that Waste Management did not inform him of his rights under FMLA.
The lawsuit outlines multiple counts against Waste Management: discrimination based on disability under both the ADAAA and Louisiana Employment Discrimination Law (LEDL), failure to accommodate under LEDL, interference with substantive rights under FMLA, and retaliation under both ADAAA and FMLA. Trevino is seeking various forms of relief including compensatory damages for pain and suffering, punitive damages, back pay with prejudgment interest, reinstatement or front pay in lieu thereof, attorney’s fees, costs of action including expert witness fees, liquidated damages for lost wages and employment benefits due to FMLA violations.
Representing Trevino is Monica V. Bowers from Bowers Law Firm LLC based in Lafayette. The case has been assigned Civil Action No.: 6:24-cv-1246.