Odd News
Kentucky man fired for reacting poorly to his own surprise birthday party
A Kentucky man won $450,000 in a lawsuit against his former employer who allegedly fired him for having a panic attack and leaving his own surprise birthday party.
Kevin Berling suffers from an anxiety disorder that causes him to suffer panic attacks whenever he is the center of attention in a large group of people.
It was for this specific reason that he asked his bosses at Gravity Diagnostics in Covington, a Kentucky medical lab, not to throw him a surprise birthday party, in 2019.
However, a manager at the company claims he forgot about Berling’s request, so they threw a birthday party for him anyway.
That caused Kevin to have a panic attack and storm out of his own celebration, which later caused him to lose his job.
According to Kenton County court filings, Kevin Berling’s surprise birthday party took place on August 7, 2019.
It didn’t go as well as his bosses and colleagues had planned, as the birthday boy himself suffered a panic attack and ran out of the office to his car.
Berling’s reaction didn’t sit too well with Gravity Diagnostics bosses, who later confronted Berling about his unusual reaction, accusing him of depriving his colleagues of the joy of celebrating his birthday, which only caused the man to have another panic attack.
“They started giving him a pretty hard time for his response to the birthday celebration, actually accusing him of stealing his co-workers’ joy,” Berling’s lawyer, Tony Bucher, said.
“Being the center of attention is a source of great stress.”
This time, Kevin’s reaction made Gravity Diagnostics management think that he could get angry and potentially violent, so a few days later, he was fired “because of the events of the previous week”.
Berling then sued Gravity Diagnostics for disability discrimination and retaliation, claiming that he “has suffered and is continuing to suffer from a loss of income and benefits and emotional distress and mental anxiety.”
A court recently awarded Berling $450,000 as compensation, but his former employer still has the chance to appeal the judge’s decision.
And to think it all started because they decided to throw a birthday party for the guy against his will…
Source: Oddity Central
An Alberta baseball team hosted a Guinness World Record attempt involving an Australian shepherd jumping across the backs of 56 people.
The Edmonton Riverhawks, an amateur summer collegiate team in the West Coast League, hosted the record attempt for the most jumps between people by a dog in one minute during a June 14 game.
Chardonnay, a 4-year-old Australian shepherd belonging to dog trainer Jennifer Fraser, bounded across the backs of 56 fans arranged in a straight line in the outfield.
The record’s rules set a time limit of one minute, but Chardonnay managed to set the record in just 16 seconds.
Fraser said she trained Chardonnay to jump onto her back a few years ago, and her trick repertoire has since expanded.
“Jumping across backs is just one of her many skills,” Fraser said.
Firefighters and an animal control officer in San Francisco came to the rescue of a wild parrot that got its head stuck between panes of glass on a third-floor balcony.
San Francisco Animal Care & Control said on social media that Officer Mullen responded alongside the San Francisco Fire Department on Sunday when a parrot was spotted with its head stuck between two panes of glass on the balcony of an under-construction building.
Firefighters went to the roof of a building and lowered a ladder to the balcony, where they were able to slide the bird upward to free its head.
“They wrapped the bird in a towel and handed it off to Officer Mullen, who checked out the bird,” the post said. “Thankfully they were fine: their wings, legs and neck were all OK, so Officer Mullen released the bird.”
The parrot made its way to a nearby tree to rest on a branch. UPI.com
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