BENTON - St. Clair County resident Brian Nance claims CRST trucking company of Iowa wrongfully terminated him and CRST claims he never worked for them.
Nance sued CRST in St. Clair County circuit court last November, alleging violation of Illinois human rights law.
His counsel Jeffrey Hackney of St. Louis County claimed CRST hired Nance as long haul driver in 2022, based in and from St. Clair County.
According to the suit, CRST notified Nance of the offer by a telephone call to his home and provided a bus ticket to Cedar Rapids for orientation.
Nance was to be dispatched from Roxana, Edwardsville, Caseyville, and Springfield.
CRST allegedly promised Nance he would be home every week or every other week and same day work in Illinois was possible. Nance would have left his car at an Illinois terminal or at home and he would have parked his truck at home.
The suit claims that a transportation department disclosure included Nance’s prescription medications.
Nance allegedly became ill in Iowa and spent three days in a hospital for dehydration. Nance went home, obtained clearance from his physician, and submitted it.
Nance followed up with a company representative who allegedly told him they wouldn’t bring him on board for legal reasons.
A representative in the medical department allegedly told Nance he could not be brought back because he was taking Seroquel, a drug on a prohibited list.
“Seroquel is not, in fact, on the Department of Transportation’s prohibited list,” Hackney wrote.
He claimed Nance used it to sleep at night only if needed. He also claimed Nance had driven safely in the past with physician approval and had taken Seroquel for years without incident.
He claimed Seroquel is used to treat depression, mania, schizophrenia, and anxiety.
“The circumstantial evidence is that defendant regarded plaintiff as being schizophrenic or manic, which he is not,” he wrote.
“Plaintiff does suffer from depression and post traumatic stress disorder, however, and is therefore a qualified individual with a disability.
“Plaintiff's claims related to termination may be read in the alternative as failure to hire claims, based upon identical operative facts.”
He served the complaint on CRST in December.
Chief Circuit Andrew Gleeson assigned Circuit Judge Kevin Hoerner who set a status conference for Jan. 29.
CRST counsel Julie Devine of St. Louis removed the complaint to district court on Jan. 18, asserting diverse jurisdiction as an Iowa business.
On Jan. 24 she moved to dismiss it for lack of jurisdiction.
She claimed the human rights law defines an employee as “any individual performing services for remuneration within the state for an employer.”
She claimed the possible and hypothetical work that Nance might have performed in Illinois was not sufficient to meet the definition.
Hackney claimed in response that meeting the definition might be prospective.
He claimed Nance did in fact complete tasks relating to his employment in Illinois prior to the decision at issue.
Senior U.S. District Judge Phil Gilbert heard Hackney and Devine argue for 15 minutes on Aug. 1 and took the matter under advisement.