Cary country club locker-room attendant fired for multiple sclerosis, lawsuit says
A locker-room attendant has sued a Cary country club, saying he was fired for having multiple sclerosis and became known as the man who “walked funny.”
A Florida law firm filed the federal lawsuit Wednesday on behalf of Jeiel Shamblee, 40, a full-time employee at Prestonwood, where he served drinks, cleaned bathrooms and shined shoes.
After being fired last year, Shamblee got clearance to sue in September after filing a complaint with the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission.
The suit argues Prestonwood violated the Americans with Disabilities Act by discriminating against Shamblee based on his disability. It seeks back pay and benefits, salary going forward and emotional stress damages.
Prestonwood is a private club in the Preston neighborhood, owned by Jim Goodnight, the CEO of Cary software developer SAS Institute. Its courses host the SAS Championship — a golf tournament on the PGA Tour Champions.
“None of us should suffer discrimination for any reason,” said SAS spokeswoman Shannon Heath. “The complaint has just recently been shared with Prestonwood and is currently being investigated. As this is now an ongoing legal matter, we can’t provide any further comment.”
Numbness, loss of muscle control
Shamblee began working there as a seasonal employee in 2007 and worked his way to full-time locker room attendant in 2012, said the suit, filed in U.S. District Court in Raleigh.
In 2017, while still undiagnosed, he began to feel tingling and numbness on his left side, along with ataxia, or loss of muscle control, the suit said.
After extensive tests, he got the MS diagnosis in 2018 and began using a cane to help him walk. He told both his supervisor and human resources department about the disability, the lawsuit said.
“Defendant immediately began to target plaintiff due to his disability and set him up for termination because Plaintiff displayed visible symptoms associated with his disability which did not conform with the ‘look’ Defendant wanted in a member-facing position, especially its men’s locker room,” wrote Shamblee’s attorney, Gary Martoccio.
Shamblee later asked management at The Red Fox, an on-site restaurant, if he could use a pushcart to serve drinks. This request was declined, the suit said, because it was also not a “good look.”
Shamblee had one minor disciplinary warning in 10 years at Prestonwood but soon received numerous write-ups, one for a day he wasn’t scheduled to work, the suit said.
He was ordered to stand more often, according to the lawsuit, and was chastised for sitting down in the back office where he shined shoes.
Martoccio described management moving Shamblee’s cane to keep customers from seeing it, and other employees referring to him as “the guy who walked funny.”
“Defendant assigned Plaintiff new physically demanding job duties including cleaning restrooms and shower facilities,” the suit said. “This task was not only meant to harass plaintiff, but it was designed to set him up for failure because the additional tasks required extensive walking and standing.”
Write-ups continued and Shamblee was terminated in December. His lawyer said Shamblee still lives in Raleigh and is requesting a jury trial.