Bob CollinsMichael Trimble doesn’t have any arms, thanks, he says, to the nuclear meltdown in Chernobyl.
But he rides a bike and, thanks to some modifications a friend made, he can carry the bike a short distance.
Now, however, he’s testing the Americans With Disabilities Act because he says his employer — a grocery chain — fired him because he wouldn’t carry the bike up a back flight of stairs at the store when coming to work. He had to ride through the lobby and a pavilion out front.
He says his boss asked him to push the bike across the area out front of the store.
“How can I push my bike?” he tells the Washington Post. “I don’t have any arms.”
His bike is his main source of transportation; he can’t drive. In his job, he had to type with his feet.
“You have a productive employee who’s bringing diversity to your employment base who’s able to do his job,” his attorney tells the Post in an article today. “It doesn’t make sense to get hung up on a side issue about how a person’s going to transport himself to work and back.”
“The Kroger family of stores has a long history of hiring and accommodating people with disabilities,” Keith Dailey, a spokesman for Kroger stores tells the paper. “While we can’t comment on pending litigation, our company values include safety, inclusion and respect and we strive to live up to those values every day.”
