A federal lawsuit over the wrongful termination of former longtime Bradford Airport director Tom Frungillo was recently dismissed in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Pennsylvania.
A court order issued in March by Barbara J. Rothstein, U.S. District Judge in Erie, stated Frungillo’s lawsuit was dismissed against the McKean County defendants, Bradford Regional Airport Operating and Bradford Airport Advisory Board after finding that they were not the plaintiff’s “employer.”
“As to the remaining airport defendant, Bradford Regional Airport Authority, the court dismissed plaintiff’s federal claims under the Americans with Disabilities Act and the Family and Medical Leave Act because the Authority employs too few people be covered by either act,” the court order stated. “Finally, the court dismissed, without prejudice, plaintiff’s state claims under the Pennsylvania Human Relations Act against the Authority, declining to exercise supplemental jurisdiction over those claims.”
Frungillo had initially filed a federal lawsuit in May of 2016 over wrongful termination, alleging the Airport Authority fired him in retaliation for health problems.
The lawsuit filed by Frungillo in Erie had alleged violations of the Americans with Disabilities Act and Pennsylvania Human Relations Act including discrimination, retaliation and failure to accommodate. In addition to the Bradford Regional Airport Operating, the Airport Authority and the Airport Advisory Board, the lawsuit was also filed against the counties of McKean, Cameron, Elk and Warren.
Frungillo, who was a resident of Florida when the lawsuit was filed, had been employed at the airport for 16 years and had answered to members of the authority and the board.
Toward the end of his employment at the airport, Frungillo began to suffer from disabilities, including health conditions related to his back as well as severe stress, the complaint had alleged.
He was still able to do his job, but would at times “need reasonable accommodations.”
In September 2014, Frungillo took a brief vacation and was scheduled to return to work. However, the complaint read, he requested additional time off “to care for and treat” his health conditions, and had “more than enough benefit time to cover his absences” during that time frame. On Sept. 17, 2014, Frungillo was terminated by the authority “without any warning or explanation and clearly in retaliation for requesting reasonable accommodations for his disabilities and/or because of his perceived disabilities,” the complaint read.
Frungillo had sought compensation for any and all pay and benefits he would have received if not for the alleged wrongful termination; punitive damages; costs and expenses of the suit; and a trial by jury.
Frungillo had been represented by Ari Karpf of Karpf, Karpf and Cerutti P.C. of Bensalem.
He has filed a motion asking the federal court to reconsider its order relating to his Pennsylvania Human Relations Act. The court has not yet ruled on the motion.
