A surprise party organized for an employee turned into a fiasco at a company in Kentucky (USA).
The story is not trivial and ended up in US courts in recent weeks. An employee at a company in Kentucky, in the western United States, had been suffering from anxiety attacks and warned management that he did not want a surprise birthday party to be thrown, as is traditional in the structure.
But his colleagues didn’t hear his reservations and on his birthday, Kevin Berling was entitled to his birthday celebration. Festive event that gave him an attack of anxiety and panic and that he had to leave in a hurry.
According to reports from Catalan TV, the employee spent his lunch break in his car and was unable to return to work. The next day, he would have endured numerous reproaches from his management for being accused of spoiling a celebratory moment for his colleagues. He would even have been called a “cheater”.
Allegations that again triggered a panic attack in the employee, who was eventually fired from the company on “work safety” grounds. According to one of the company’s representatives, “his behavior put his colleagues at risk”.
The lawsuit conducted over the past few weeks ordered the company to pay $450,000 in damages. What is expensive for a birthday party…