Worker told bosses he had to quarantine for COVID-19. They fired him, lawsuit says.
On a morning in April, Larry Bishop called his boss in Huntersville to say he wouldn’t be in for work.
That weekend, according to federal court documents, Bishop’s wife Rebecca had begun showing symptoms of COVID-19 — “Itchy throat, slight headache, everything they told you back then on the news,” her husband says now.
On Sunday night, a hospital near the Bishops’ home recommended that the couple begin 14-day quarantines.
The next morning before the start of his shift, Bishop relayed that information to TRP Construction, which is located in Huntersville, about 15 miles north of Charlotte. He also alerted the company that he would be temporarily taking charge of the family’s four children.
That was on a Monday.
On Wednesday, TRP fired him. By text, Bishop says, and with an immediate loss of his salary.
The ex-foreman for the Huntersville company has already sent a reply — a lawsuit that accuses the construction firm of violating federal laws put in place this year to protect families during the pandemic.
Bishop and his Charlotte legal team are calling for a jury trial, while demanding lost wages, interest and damages. The 32-year-old also wants his job back.
In a filed response to the lawsuit, TRP’s attorney, Lew Glenn of Charlotte, argues that Bishop’s claims “are barred by reason of his own fraudulent acts and misrepresentations,” but doesn’t explain how. The company is also challenging Bishop’s contention that during his time at TRP, he “met or exceeded” the company’s expectations.
In the end, neither of the Bishops appear to have come down with the virus — one of the few pieces of good news the family received after the firing.
Because he lost his job, Bishop says, he also lost his home in Lugoff, S.C., northeast of Columbia. Bishop says he, Rebecca and their children — the oldest was 7 at the time — were forced to return to his hometown of Columbus, Ga., where his sister had to pay the rent on a much smaller house in a less-desirable neighborhood.
Bishop says he only found a new job a month ago, not long after he lost both of his parents to separate illnesses.
“It’s been rough on everyone,” he says. “My kids, you know. Well, it affected my family as much as me. If I lose, they lose.”
COVID-19 and the courts
Bishop’s complaint adds a new footnote to the exploding case law over COVID-19, emblematic of how thoroughly the virus has disrupted everyday life in this country and around the world.
On the commercial side, hundreds of hotels, restaurants and other affected businesses are locked in court fights with insurance companies that are refusing to cover massive amounts of pandemic-driven losses.
The virus has also opened up a vast array of labor-law litigation. Employees have turned to the courts claiming they were fired for refusing to return to work out of fear of contracting the virus. Others say they lost their jobs after reporting unsafe working conditions at their workplaces.
Meanwhile, Congress continues to debate legal protections for businesses whose employees or customers contracted COVID-19, which has sickened millions of Americans and killed more than 250,000.
Bishop’s lawsuit focuses on his rights under the Families First Coronavirus Response Act. The law guarantees qualified employees two weeks of fully paid leave if they are quarantining under a government order or at the recommendation of a health provider.
The federal law also says workers can qualify for additional leave at reduced pay if their child’s school is closed by COVID-19, as was the case for Bishop’s oldest daughter, the lawsuit claims.
Bishop joined TRP on March 16. He said he never received any criticism about his job performance.
When he first notified TRP about his quarantine, Bishop says his boss sent him a questionnaire about Bishop’s possible exposure to the virus.
At first, he said, he thought his employer was worried about his safety. He said he believes differently now.
“They were more worried about being shut down (by the virus) versus me getting taken care of,” he says.
This story was originally published November 24, 2020 at 11:24 AM.
