A former computer salesman is taking legal action against his previous employer after being terminated due to his bladder problems.
It’s quite rare to hear that someone’s need to urinate led to their firing, but that’s precisely what transpired in this case.
Richard Becker, a former computer executive at a leading tech firm, had been employed there since 2022.
The 66-year-old suffered from a severe disability, causing incontinence and requiring frequent restroom visits within short intervals.
However, it wasn’t the frequency that led to his dismissal – it was the location he chose for relief.
During a business meeting at a Times Square hotel, Becker explained in his court filing that he needed to use the bathroom numerous times. At the end of the meeting, he felt ‘overwhelmed’ by his bladder needs and ended up urinating in the lobby.
The lawsuit, which is seeking $1.5 million from Lenovo, states that he physically couldn’t make it the 12 blocks back to his room at the Westin New York.
As a result, he had to ‘discreetly urinate on the ground’ in the hotel’s ‘vestibule’ area, where a superior saw him and reported the incident to human resources.
Becker alleges that the individual reported him ‘out of spite and malice,’ even though the company was aware of his chronic medical condition since 2016 and his consultations with a urologist.
Just four days later, Becker was dismissed without notice or severance pay, prompting him to sue Lenovo for disability discrimination.
According to court documents filed on Friday, August 23, in Manhattan Supreme Court: “With knowledge of Becker’s bladder condition (a disability under the law).”
“Lenovo summarily terminated Becker because he suffers from that condition, following an incident that had no impact on Becker’s job performance or Lenovo’s business.”
In his court filings, Becker claimed to have significantly contributed to the company’s growth, increasing business by 200 percent, and being awarded as a Lenovo Global Account Sales Executive.
Becker asserted that his company and colleagues were aware of his condition and even mocked him for his frequent restroom visits.
At the hotel, Becker explained that he only made it ‘as far as the hotel vestibule,’ which he described as ‘a deserted area located on a different floor from the lobby.’
The filing stated: “At that point, embarrassed, panicked, and faced with an emergency, Becker had no choice but to discreetly urinate on the ground behind a column in the vestibule.”
However, an employee at the Westin informed The Post that there isn’t an area known as ‘the vestibule,’ suggesting that his options would only be the first-floor entrance or the concierge desk on the second floor.
The employee also noted that there were available restrooms in the lobby.
Becker’s final criticism of the company was that he had witnessed ‘far worse conduct,’ recalling an incident in 2021 where intoxicated employees placed someone inside a ‘toy vending machine.’