Feb 17, 2016 2 min read

An federal jury has awarded a Washington County man and former U.S. Steel Corp. employee $5.5 million in damages in a discrimination case against the company.

In the verdict for the plaintiff, Albert E. Gucker, 64, of McMurray, filed Tuesday in U.S. District Court, Pittsburgh, the jury found that U.S. Steel had violated the federal Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 and the Pennsylvania Human Relations Act, according to Paul A. Tershel, Gucker’s attorney.

The jury awarded Gucker compensatory and punitive damages, Tershel said.

“The jury found U.S. Steel acted with malice and reckless indifference,” Tershel said.

U.S. District Judge Nora Barry Fischer, who presided over the two-week trial, has yet to decide the outstanding claims of back pay and attorney’s fees, Tershel said.

U.S. Steel Corp. officials had no comment Wednesday when asked if the company planned to appeal the verdict that the jury reached Friday.

Gucker, a 30-year mechanic for U.S. Steel’s Irvin Works in Dravosburg, Allegheny County, was dismissed by the company in December 2011 after it refused to accept a restriction Gucker had on lifting heavy objects because of his arthritic knees, Tershel said.

Tershel said Gucker had worked under the restriction for eight years before Gucker’s new supervisor in 2011 refused to accept it and sent him home.

Tershel alleged in his argument to the jury that a medical exam that Gucker underwent at the direction of U.S. Steel prior to his dismissal in 2011 that concluded he was fit for sedentary duty was “not fair and accurate.”

“That was a very important element (in the trial),” Tershel said.

Tershel said Gucker would not be commenting on the verdict because the case is not finalized.

“He was relieved and very grateful the jury had faith in him,” Tershel said. “It has been a tough time. He was a loyal soldier for U.S. Steel for 30 years. He shows up for work, and they tell him ‘We don’t need you anymore.'”

Tershel said Gucker has not worked since his dismissal from U.S. Steel.