Berry Global Worker to Get Disability-Based Job Reprisal Trial

A trial is needed to determine whether Berry Global Inc.'s firing of a material handler one day after he requested new medical leave for a shoulder disability was retaliatory, a Louisiana federal judge ruled.

Seeking more time off was protected activity that a jury could find was the “but-for” cause of Darrell Williams’ termination, given the “very close” timing, the US District Court for the Western District of Louisiana said. The company failed to present a nonretaliatory justification for its employment action, the court said.

The packaging company, now part of Amcor Plc, argued it had already decided to ...