News Flash: Mentally Disabled Employee Wins Record ADA Verdict

A Wisconsin jury has awarded over $13 million in damages to a mentally retarded janitor who claimed he was fired because of his disability—the largest verdict ever in a case brought by the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission under the Americans with Disabilities Act. The EEOC had filed suit on behalf of Donald Perkle, who worked for the Chuck E. Cheese pizza chain. Perkle claimed a regional manager remarked that Chuck E. Cheese did not hire “those kind of people” and then fired him, over the protest of the store manager and co-workers. Although the verdict exceeds the $300,000 damage cap contained in the law and is expected to be reduced, it sends a strong message about the risks involved in lawsuits involving mental disability.