Case Name: Salmoiraghi v. Veritiss, LLC
Court: United States District Court – Eastern District of Virginia
Date of Opinion: April 6th, 2022
Judge: Michael S. Nachmanoff
Overview: Plaintiff filed a lawsuit against Government contractor for violation of the ADA. Defendant filed a motion for summary judgment, which was granted.
Background: This case involves a claim under the Americans With Disabilities Act of 1990 (ADA). The plaintiff, Joseph Salmoiraghi, alleges that the defendant Veritiss, violated the ADA by discriminating and retaliating against him because he suffers from Post Traumatic Stress Disorder and Anxiety Disorder. Veritiss is a woman-owned, service disabled veteran-owned business that provides intelligence analysis and other services to the United States Government.
Salmoiraghi alleges that he suffered numerous adverse employment actions. Some of these adverse employment actions include: 1) taking away some of the plaintiff’s supervisory authority; 2) not permitting the plaintiff to transfer job sites; 3) removing the plaintiff’s title of “team lead”; and 4) ignoring the plaintiff’s attempts to address his disability concerns and his harassment complaints.
The plaintiff maintains that he was satisfying the employer’s legitimate expectations by referring to the positive reviews that he received during his employment. However, the court notes that the plaintiff did not provide any evidence that he was meeting the employer’s expectations as a “team lead” at the time he was demoted. The court also notes that the plaintiff would have to introduce evidence from a qualified witness to define the employers expectations and place the plaintiff into these expectations.
The court does note that it can assume that the plaintiff can satisfy the inference of unlawful discrimination as he was terminated soon after receiving a termination letter. The court opines that the basis for Salmoiraghi’s termination was his inability to access the worksite. Thus, the court continues, one cannot conclude that the only basis for the plaintiff’s termination was his disability.
Conclusion: The defendant’s motion for summary judgment is granted by the court.
Steven M. Cohen
Steven M. Cohen is a law librarian at a midsize law firm in New York City. He was the creator of Library Stuff, one of the first library blogs, which lasted over 15 years. He obtained his MLS from Queens College in 2002. His passions include legal research, reading novels, and rooting on his favorite sports teams.