A man is suing his former employer for alleged age discrimination based on the Whistleblower Act.
Michael Barry filed the suit on Oct. 27 in Madison County Circuit Court against Schenker Logistics, Glenn McKeithan and Lee Sininger.
According to the complaint, Barry began working for Schenker in October 2011 as Transportation Operations Manager. Eleven months later, the employer discharged its Safety and Compliance Manager, who was approximately 47 years old.
Before the vacant job was posted, McKeithan, the company's general manager, asked the plaintiff to meet with a job candidate. Despite McKeithan's insistence that he wanted that person hired because he was young, the suit claims, the plaintiff thought that candidate wasn't qualified.
Barry alleges McKeithan continued wanting the first interviewee hired, but they plaintiff refused.
Instead, another employee was hired. However, after the new employee started the job, McKeithan began finding problems with his performance. He was later fired on Aug. 14, 2013, the suit states.
The plaintiff is suing the defendants for allegedly violating the Illinois Human Rights Act, for retaliation and age discrimination, and the Whistleblower Act. That allegation is specific to defendant McKeithan and defendant Sininger, the company's general manager, who retaliated against the plaintiff for refusing to engage in an activity that is illegal--the law prohibiting age discrimination when he refused to hire the first job candidate.
Plaintiff seeks damages against all three defendants in excess of $50,000, court costs and attorney fees.
Representing the plaintiff are Ferne P. Wolf and Joshua M. Pierson, Sowers & Wolf of St. Louis, and Joseph Brown Jr., Lucco, Brown, Threlkeld & Dawson of Edwardsville.
Madison County Circuit Court case number 15-L-1386.