Network Fired Reporter for Plagiarism, Not PTSD, Court Finds (Corrected)

A government-funded broadcasting network had a legitimate reason for firing a reporter who engaged in plagiarism, despite his claim that he was disabled by post-traumatic stress disorder, a federal district court decided.

The decision shows that establishing an employee’s serious disability won’t support a discrimination claim under the Americans with Disabilities Act unless the worker shows a causal relationship between the condition and an adverse employment action.

Mohamad Mastou was diagnosed with PTSD after he had traumatic experiences in Syria and witnessed by video a bombing that killed his father and brother. But Judge Claude M. Hilton of the U.S. ...