I was hired at Tropicana Products aka: Tropicana Manufacturing in Bradenton, FL. On 3-14-06. I am a 30% rated disabled Veteran, and gave full disclosure at time of hire. They even made me get a medical second opinion at my own expense prior to hire. I did this, and was hired. Keep in mind, that as far as the job itself and the pay and benefits go, this is an excellent job, and I like it. I am not some disgruntled whiner.
The hours are long and you can work 7 days a week for several weeks without a day off and those shifts can be, and often are 12-16 hours per day with only 8 hours between punch out and punch in, which allows for a maximum of 4 hours sleep. I was working in the Fruit Recieving dept up until 5-31-06 when the long hours and short recovery time were starting to aggravate my overall health and my disability.
After working 15 hours on 4 hours sleep, getting off at 7AM, I went into the plant medical office to inquire about what accomodations were available to me as a disabled person. All I wanted was some sort of work hour restriction that would give me 12 hours between shifts instead of 8, as with my injuries/disability it took me almost an hour just to be able to get around after getting up.
Well, this was a short discussion, as the nurse (Elizabeth Harris) went straight to the HR office which is connected by a hallway and with her came Tulsa Everett, the senior HR rep at that time. Without any discussion or evaluation, Tulsa "removed" me from the job without any documentation which I requested, and was denied. Not only did she take me off the job, she deactivated my access badge and timecard, as would be done when terminating an employee, but I was not terminated. I was simply off the job, without status or communication.
I filed a grievance with the union (Teamsters Local 173) and after being out of work 11 weeks, was paid my full back pay, but still not put back to work. I was told I had to get another medical evaluation at my own expense and get a release that stated "without restrictions" before I could come back to work. Well, being permanently disabled this would be impossible.
After 2 more months of fighting, I got back to work in another department. The original complaint was at this time allegedly resolved.
In the mean time, The 2 HR reps involved are removed from HR. 1 was fired (Eric Rivera) and 1 is reassigned (Tulsa Everett). Therefore Tropicana knows there is a problem here and risk of a lawsuit for the blatant ADA violations. Tropicana is owned by PepsiCo and is part of the QTG division. (Quaker-Tropicana-Gatorade).
However, 3 months later, they are right back to the 12-16 hour shifts with 8 hours in between, and once again, my condition is aggravated. This time I need medical treatment to resolve the pain and loss of mobility, however, I can and do keep performing my job, just in great pain. I make a medical appointment and a course of action being lumbar traction therapy is prescribed.
Tropicana denies my right to medical care and calls it an un-excused absence! They deny me the opportunity to get treatment that takes only 1 hour, twice per week even though I scheduled it outside normal duty hours so only forced overtime would be affected.
So, I file a formal written request with the HR Dept (Jenny Williams, HR Director) which is quickly denied without any real evaluation, and they attack my character, etc. Then Jenny Williams "removes me" from the job! Again! Without status or documentation once more. This time I am out of work for another 15 weeks. I am now out almost $5,000 in lost pay which has been denied 3 times through the Union grievance procedure, even with a rock solid case and abundant documentation of all events, and the prior violation.
Pete Hayes, HR Manager fabricates testimony and documents to get me off the job and keep me off the job. I get paid for a few weeks and get put back to work, but 9 weeks lost time and all of my expenses, etc. Remain unpaid.
I have a USDOL / OFCCP complaint filed for the blatant ADA violations which is being handled by Carlos Gamazo of the USDOL OFCCP. Which is the office of contract compliance, as both Tropicana and pepsico are federal contractors and must meet higher standards and have a 100% compliance rate with ADA, and other programs for Disabled persons and Veterans.
That is where it is at now. Possible Federal and State sanctions, as well as me having to sue them at my own expense for the violations.
Please give me your thoughts and experiences if you have worked for these companies or know someone that has. If you are an experienced lawyer in FL and are on the federal bar, please contact me if you are interested in a contingency fee based case. I can cover some costs, provided I am still working.
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