The McKinney Law Firm has filed suit in federal district court in Austin pursuant to the Age Discrimination in Employment Act, the Texas Commission on Human Rights Act, and the FMLA against the Allen Kellar Company — a heavy construction company that specializes in clearing, excavating, grading, paving and the building of concrete structures.

The suit was filed on behalf of a former employee who alleges the company fired him because he was, in their eyes, too old and too disabled to work and because they did not like the fact that he had taken medical leave due to a heart condition. The lawsuit alleges that he was fired in the parking lot of a truck stop, where his boss and the company’s HR officer told him he should get on Social Security and Medicare before taking the keys to his company truck and handing him a booklet on how to apply for Social Security.

It is illegal under both federal and state law to discriminate in the terms or conditions of employment on the basis of a person's age, disability or because an employer regards them as being disabled. It is likewise illegal under federal law for an employer to terminate an employee because he has taken FMLA leave for a serious medical condition.