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A federal judge is weighing damages in a discrimination case after a jury determined that a former employee of Westminster College warranted protection under the American with Disabilities Act because he was addicted to pain medication.
The private Salt Lake City liberal arts school fired William Tracy Fowler, who used prescriptions drugs to manage chronic back pain, in 2005 when officials became convinced he came to work impaired, according to defense witness testimony.
But after four days of trial, the jury concluded the impairment allegation was a dubious pretext for shedding an employee struggling with legitimate health problems that amounted to a disability, according to Fowler's lawyer, April Hollingsworth.
"He was terminated for taking prescription drugs he had a prescription for," Hollingsworth said.
Westminster officials plan to appeal the verdict.
"This is an unfortunate ending to an unfortunate story. Westminster over the years tried very hard to support Tracy with his struggles," said college spokesman Jeremy Pugh. "We followed proper procedures in terminating Mr. Fowler. He was terminated for violating a legitimate policy designed to protect the safety of students, faculty and staff."
But according to Fowler's suit, officials began "harassing" him soon after learning that he became dependent on prescription drugs, even banning him from campus while he underwent addiction treatment.
The jury last week awarded Fowler $500,000. While federal law will likely cap that award at $300,000, U.S. District Judge David Nuffer is considering additional damages pegged to back pay from Fowler's 2005 firing, as well as money that the 54-year-old Fowler would have received had he continued working. A final ruling is expected in a few weeks.
Fowler, who lives in Holladay, said he was earning $47,000 a year supervising the copy shop and mail room, not including benefits, when he was fired.
"I'm so happy with the verdict, but I'm also sad it had to go this way," he said. "I worked there for 21 years and had so many friends."
Fowler's back troubles started in 2002 when he was diagnosed with a degenerative spinal condition that made it difficult to work. He began taking a cocktail of opiate pain killers and a muscle relaxer to manage his symptoms, then underwent surgery in 2004. He returned to work after a lengthy leave, but his dependency on pain drugs persisted.
On Oct. 18, 2005, Westminster supervisors confronted Fowler at work with suspicions that he was under the influence, according to court filings. Fowler denied he was impaired and agreed to a drug test. He produced a urine sample, which was analyzed by a third party. Alleging a positive result to excess amounts of multiple drugs, the college fired Fowler two weeks later.
What the analysis actually revealed was hotly disputed at trial. Hollingsworth provided evidence that the analysis detected only Soma, a muscle relaxant, which Fowler was taking on a prescription basis. There was no indication that he was taking more than prescribed, she argued.
Fowler said that by the time of his firing, he was in recovery from his addiction to prescription drugs although he was taking Suboxone, which is used to treat opiate dependence.