Seafood allergy is protected disability

A recent ruling from the 5th Circuit gives us valuable lessons on how Texas employers should deal with a disability in the workplace. Let’s do an after-action analysis and see what we can learn.

Employee reports her seafood allergy

Myrell Bergeron worked for an urgent care center. In the fall of 2019, she told HR about her seafood allergy and that seafood being eaten in the breakroom was triggering an allergic reaction. In response, her supervisor, Icessis Guy, provided a “Seafood Present” sign employees were to post whenever seafood was being consumed in the breakroom. (The case arose in South Louisiana, and therefore, seafood was apparently a popular lunch item.)

In addition, employees were instructed that food containers holding seafood should be closed in the refrigerator. The microwave, if used to prepare the seafood, should be cleaned, and tables had to be wiped down with disinfectant wipes if seafood was eaten that day in the break room.

Those efforts didn’t bear fruit. Bergeron suffered two allergic reactions at work, one on January 15, 2020, and another on February 21, 2020. She was terminated in April 2020 for allegedly stealing three N-95 masks from a packet of 10 that she intended to use at work. While Guy didn’t make the termination decision, he reported the “theft.”

Questions to ask