A 13-year employee of Rolla Cantex, Inc., the local maker of nonmetallic electrical conduit and communication duct materials that shuttered its local operation late last year, has won an out-of-court settlement against the company claiming discrimination of a pre-existing disability.
Vichy resident Michael Natoli, who was severely burned on 45 percent of his body in a 1968 during a house fire, has settled the charge filed in U.S. federal court in St. Louis that alleges discrimination at Cantex.
Natoli, 48, who, until shortly before his lawsuit was filed on Nov. 5, worked at Cantex in various roles since starting his position on Jan. 26, 1996. The monetary amount of the settlement was not disclosed.
The case, which was assigned to U.S. Magistrate Judge David D. Noce of the Eastern District Court in St. Louis, did not reach the jury trial Natoli sought.
In the document filed by Milwaukee, Wis., attorney Andre E. Townsel on behalf of Natoli, the lawsuit alleged that rights guaranteed in the American with Disabilities Act of 1990, the Family and Medical Leave Act of 1993 and the Missouri Human Rights Act were violated. The suit named Cantex as the defendant, a foreign company, incorporated in the state of Delaware and conducting business in Phelps County, Mo. Also cited in the case were company officials in Fort Worth, Texas.
Nicole S. Zellweger, an attorney with Stinson, Morrison, Hecker, LLP of St. Louis, represented Cantex.
Facts of the case state that Cantex hired Natoli, with knowledge of his past injuries that “substantially limits his ability to perform some major life activities, including but not limited to lifting, reaching, performing manual tasks, etc.”
A call Friday to Zellweger of the law firm Stinson, Morrison, Hecker, LLP in St. Louis, was not returned.
Natoli is unemployed but is actively looking for work.
