NJ Appellate Division rules no age or disability bias in 60-year-old’s termination

On March 29, 2023, the New Jersey Appellate Division affirmed an employer’s win after a former employee claimed he was fired because of his age and disability. The court ruled that when an employee offers no evidence of age discrimination and fails to submit any documentation of a medical disability to his employer, there’s no violation of the New Jersey Law Against Discrimination (NJLAD).

Facts

In 2013, at the age of 58, Drini Zoto began his employment with Verizon Wireless as an electronic systems engineer and computer programmer, which was a desk job.

In mid-April 2016, Verizon’s union employees, who were responsible for maintaining landline telephone, Internet, and television services, went on strike. In response, Verizon assigned Zoto and hundreds of other employees to perform roles outside their usual job assignments—known as emergency work assignments (EWAs)—to avoid service disruptions.

Zoto, who was 60 years old at the time, was assigned the role of field telephone pole lineman, which had physical requirements such as climbing ladders and telephone poles and heavy lifting. He expressed he was in “reasonably good health” but informed Verizon he had high blood pressure, vertigo, and a fear of heights and couldn’t perform the assignment. He was advised to apply for an exception through the company’s online portal, and all medical exception requests would be reviewed and assessed by a third-party administrator (TPA). If the TPA approved the request, Verizon would provide an accommodation, reassign him, or allow him to return to his regular job.