New Jersey law firm, Morris, Downing & Sherred, LLP, sues Panera Bread Company for wrongfully terminating an employee with Downs Syndrome.

NEWTON, NEW JERSEY, USA, December 13, 2019 /EINPresswire.com/ -- The New Jersey law firm of Morris, Downing & Sherred, in Newton, New Jersey, has filed a lawsuit (Superior Court of New Jersey Law Division: Sussex County Docket No.: SSX-L-588-19) against the publicly-traded Panera Bread Company on behalf of Jennifer Barkhorn, a 28-year-old woman who has Downs Syndrome, alleging that Panera wrongfully terminated her based on her disability.

The lawsuit, filed in the Sussex County New Jersey Superior Court in Newton, New Jersey, alleges that Ms. Barkhorn worked part-time at the Panera Bread Company store in Sparta, New Jersey since June of 2015 through a program at the New Jersey Department of Labor, Division of Vocational Rehabilitation Services.

Ms. Barkhorn worked there for over two years. For Ms. Barkhorn and her family, all of whom lived close by, it was an opportunity for Ms. Barkhorn to become an active member of the community—a part of the social fabric of Sparta—despite her condition and limitations.

Early in 2018, the Panera Bread Company terminated one of Ms. Barkhorn’s former supervisors based on the supervisor’s abusive treatment of Ms. Barkhorn in front of customers. What immediately followed was the Panera Bread Company’s appointment of another supervisor, Ryan Altieri, who did not accommodate Ms. Barkhorn disability and terminated her for alleged performance problems relating to new tasks he assigned to her.

The lawsuit seeks to help Ms. Barkhorn recover for her economic loss, as well as the emotional distress that the Panera Bread Company has caused her.

Paul Hunczak
Morris, Downing & Sherred, LLP
+1 973-383-2700
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