By Kelcey Caulder
Law360 (November 14, 2024, 4:35 PM EST) — Johnson & Johnson was sued in Georgia federal court Wednesday by a former employee who said she was discriminated against for her disabilities, then fired for failing to relocate to New Jersey despite an agreement allowing her to work remotely from any East Coast location.
Georgia resident Charlotte Johnson, who worked for Johnson & Johnson as a supply chain specialist, said in her suit that she began her tenure working remotely from El Paso, Texas. But after she was diagnosed with chronic insomnia, generalized anxiety disorder and major depressive disorder in March 2022, she requested permission to continue working remotely to “maintain her established medical support system.”
According to Johnson, that request kicked off a round of retaliation that included her manager canceling 19 out of 24 scheduled weekly one-on-one meetings.
She did not get an answer about whether she could work from home until nine months later, in December 2022, at which point Johnson said the company agreed to accommodate her by allowing her to work “remotely from any East Coast location through April 1, 2023.” However, Johnson said her then-manager, Switzerland-based Can Unal, insisted that she work from the company’s Titusville, New Jersey, location anyway.
Johnson, adhering to the terms of the accommodation agreement, did not work in New Jersey and instead relocated to Atlanta, where she said she had no documented performance issues and maintained “exemplary work performance.”
Regardless, the company terminated Johnson’s employment in March 2023 for failure to relocate specifically to New Jersey. The manager who terminated her, she said, was the same person who signed the agreement allowing her to work from anywhere on the East Coast.
The company has since claimed her decision to leave the company was “voluntary” due to nonrelocation, but Johnson said that is untrue. Instead, she argued the company used that as a reason to discriminate against and fire her because of her disabilities and accommodation request.
“Defendant has willfully and wantonly disregarded plaintiff’s rights, and defendant’s discrimination against plaintiff was undertaken in bad faith,” Johnson said in the suit. “As a result of defendant’s discriminatory actions against plaintiff, she has suffered lost compensation and benefits, emotional distress, inconvenience, humiliation, and other indignities.”
Johnson asked the court to award her general damages for mental and emotional suffering, punitive damages, special damages, prejudgment interest and attorney fees and costs. She also asked the court to order Johnson & Johnson to either reinstate her to her former position or pay her front pay.
Representatives for the parties did not respond immediately to requests for comment on Thursday.
Johnson is represented by Ianna O. Richardson of Barrett & Farahany.
Counsel information for Johnson & Johnson was not immediately available.
The case is Charlotte Johnson v. Johnson & Johnson, case number 1:24-cv-05196, in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Georgia.
