A woman who suffers from asthma filed a charge of employment discrimination against her employer, alleging that she had been terminated because of her disability in violation of the Americans With Disabilities Act.  She claimed that the cigar smoking by one of her supervisors caused her to suffer asthma attacks, forcing her to seek medical treatment at a hospital.  When she returned to work, she requested the Defendant to enforce its company policy that banned smoking and to investigate the cause of the poor air quality in her office.  Soon thereafter, the Defendant replaced her with a person whose credentials were much inferior to the plaintiff’s — even though her supervisor claimed to have a need for someone “heavier,” meaning someone with more experience.  Plaintiff claims that this explanation was merely pre-textual.  Plaintiff, who filed this action pro se, filed her claim with the Equal Employment Opportunities Commission one day past the 300-day requirement.  She argued that the time limitations are subject to equitable tolling.  The court (Hutton, J.) denied the Defendant’s motion to dismiss and granted Plaintiff’s motion to reopen the case.

1998 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 18847, No. 97-7825, U.S. District Court (E.D. Pa. 1998).