Audit Associate Says He Was Fired for Asking to Skip Happy Hours

A former audit associate sued CliftonLarsonAllen LLP, alleging his accommodation request to opt out of employer-sponsored social events to avoid triggering his anxiety was at play when the accounting firm fired him last year.

Lionel Lim accused CLA of showing a “willful” and “reckless disregard” for his well-being by not exempting him from non-mandatory events like happy hours after he reported suffering from social anxiety, according to the complaint filed Thursday in the US District Court for the Eastern District of Wisconsin.

The suit comes as employers have seen an uptick in requests for workplace accommodations concerning various mental health conditions, including anxiety, in recent years. The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission also reported that anxiety and post-traumatic stress disorder were major contributors to the increase in workers’ mental health-related discrimination charges from workers.

Lim disclosed his disability to his supervisor, Jon Trautman, who later told him to “move out of his comfort zone” in weekly supervisory meetings, according to the suit. The supervisor also requested that Lim attend happy hours and join his coworkers for lunch in the office, it said.

Lim alleged Trautman became irritated about his absence from happy hours and group lunches, which he expressed in expletive-peppered comments, adding that his attendance would now be mandatory for him. That April 2025 encounter, the suit added, caused Lim a mental health scare that led to hospitalization.

The plaintiff reported Trautman’s behavior and the new requirement that he attend social gatherings to a Human Resources representative about a week later, including that he was being required to attend company social gatherings, the suit said.

Lim said the HR rep suggested that he resign and that he wasn’t a good fit for CLA. He instead requested an exemption from the social events, which HR denied, according to the suit.

Lim was terminated two days later, it said.

The complaint was filed under Title I of the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990. It seeks back pay with prejudgment interest, punitive and compensatory damages, and legal fees.

CLA didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.

Hawks Quindel SC represents Lim.

The case is Lim v. CliftonLarsonAllen LLP, E.D. Wis., No. 2:26-cv-01000, complaint filed 6/4/26.