Man wins $611,000 after office birthday party

Despite requesting no party, his colleagues threw the surprise celebration at the office – but then things turned nasty.

A US man has been awarded $US450,000 ($A611,000) after his colleagues threw him an office birthday party against his wishes.

Kevin Berling, 29, was working as a lab technician at Gravity Diagnostics in Kentucky when his co-workers held a lunchtime celebration for his birthday back in August 2019.

But Mr Berling said he subsequently suffered a panic attack from the unwanted attention, and was soon fired from Gravity Diagnostics, New York Post reports.

He later filed a compensation suit against the company, according to legal documents seen by The Post.

“Managers started giving him a hard time for his response to the birthday celebrations,” Mr Berling’s lawyer Tony Bucher told local TV news outlet WKRC.

“They actually accused him of stealing his co-workers’ joy.”

He was accused of stealing his co-workers’ joy. Picture: iStock

Mr Berling had allegedly asked the office manager not to throw a birthday party for him when he first joined the company in 2018.

However, the manager subsequently “forgot” his request, and the office festivities went ahead, giving Mr Berling a panic attack.

As a result of the unwanted attention, he fled to his car, where he spent an hour trying to recover.

The following day, company bosses held a meeting with Mr Berling to ask about his behaviour. That incident sparked a second panic attack.

Mr Berling was fired from Gravity Diagnostics less than a week later, with bosses telling him they were “worried about him being angry and possibly becoming violent”.

The lab technician subsequently missed out on being a part of Gravity Diagnostics’ rapid growth, which occurred during the Covid pandemic.

At the time, some employees were given 300 per cent raises, the Independent reported.

Mr Berling subsequently filed a lawsuit, seeking damages and compensation for lost income.

He missed out on a pay rise of up to 300 per cent. Picture: iStock

Mr Bucher told WKRC that there was no chance of his client becoming violent, saying he was simply “using coping techniques to calm himself down” during both of his panic attacks.

On Friday, a 12-person jury unanimously awarded Mr Berling a $US450,000 ($A611,000) judgment against the company.

The settlement included $US120,000 ($A163,000) in lost wages and benefits, $US30,000 ($A40,000) in future wages, and $US300,000 ($A408,000) for “past, present and future mental pain and suffering, mental anguish, embarrassment, humiliation, mortification, and loss of self-esteem,” according to the court’s judgment in Mr Berling’s favour.

Gravity Diagnostics told The Post that the verdict was “improper” and that they would appeal it if necessary.

The company may appeal the court decision. Picture: iStock

A spokesperson for the company further claimed the case should never have gone to trial in the first place because Mr Berling did not disclose that he had a disability of anxiety and made “threatening behaviour to a female supervisor” after the birthday party.

Gravity Diagnostics added that they have a “commitment to zero tolerance for violence in the workplace” and that “employers are entitled to and indeed should take prompt action … in this era of workplace violence”.

This story originally appeared on the New York Post and is reproduced here with permission