They tried to make her go to rehab, but she said, “No, no, no.”
An ousted merchandise manager with the online shopping company Rue La La says her ex-employer discriminated against her for the “disability” of alcoholism — while insisting she’s no lush.
Now she’s filed a $5 million lawsuit against the e-commerce website claiming she was unfairly fired in December after refusing treatment.
Megan Davis admits to “social drinking” with colleagues outside of work including at an August 2017 dinner in Los Angeles while attending a trade show.
When she returned to New York, an assistant sunglasses buyer reported Davis to HR for being “intoxicated” and “acting inappropriately” at the dinner, according to her Manhattan Supreme Court suit.
Davis says “she had no such recollection” of that behavior.
Still, when confronted by HR, Davis “reluctantly agreed that she may have a problem with alcohol, even though that is not what Davis reasonably believed,” her suit says.
She made the admission because she feared for her job and began seeing a therapist for “anxiety and interpersonal boundary issues,” Davis says in court papers.
The former Syracuse University sorority sister claims “medical providers” assured her she wasn’t an alcoholic, yet her co-workers continued to treat her like “she was disabled and suffering from alcoholism.”
Davis “was treated less well because of the false perception that Davis has a disability” and became the target of “intra-office gossip,” the suit says.
She tried to dispel the rumors by “dressing overly professional and executing business transactions with her account partner in a timely manner,” but supervisors jumped on her every misstep, the suit says.
In October, the company’s human resources director told Davis she’d noticed “red flags” that signaled a drinking problem. She cited “grammatical errors in an email sent from Davis’ cell phone and Davis reportedly tripping while walking outside of Rue La La’s office building,” the suit says.
Davis was forced ou🌄t after refusing to enter a mandated 60-🦹day treatment program.
“It feels like you are shoving rehab down my throat,” she told her bosses shortly before her ouster.
Davis is suing for $5 million over the company’s alleged “discriminatory and outrageous conduct.”
Rue La La reps did n𒁃ot return a message seeking comment.