Odd News
Kentucky man fired for reacting poorly to his own surprise birthday party
A Kentucky man won $450,000 in a lawsuit against his former employer who allegedly fired him for having a panic attack and leaving his own surprise birthday party.
Kevin Berling suffers from an anxiety disorder that causes him to suffer panic attacks whenever he is the center of attention in a large group of people.
It was for this specific reason that he asked his bosses at Gravity Diagnostics in Covington, a Kentucky medical lab, not to throw him a surprise birthday party, in 2019.
However, a manager at the company claims he forgot about Berling’s request, so they threw a birthday party for him anyway.
That caused Kevin to have a panic attack and storm out of his own celebration, which later caused him to lose his job.
According to Kenton County court filings, Kevin Berling’s surprise birthday party took place on August 7, 2019.
It didn’t go as well as his bosses and colleagues had planned, as the birthday boy himself suffered a panic attack and ran out of the office to his car.
Berling’s reaction didn’t sit too well with Gravity Diagnostics bosses, who later confronted Berling about his unusual reaction, accusing him of depriving his colleagues of the joy of celebrating his birthday, which only caused the man to have another panic attack.
“They started giving him a pretty hard time for his response to the birthday celebration, actually accusing him of stealing his co-workers’ joy,” Berling’s lawyer, Tony Bucher, said.
“Being the center of attention is a source of great stress.”
This time, Kevin’s reaction made Gravity Diagnostics management think that he could get angry and potentially violent, so a few days later, he was fired “because of the events of the previous week”.
Berling then sued Gravity Diagnostics for disability discrimination and retaliation, claiming that he “has suffered and is continuing to suffer from a loss of income and benefits and emotional distress and mental anxiety.”
A court recently awarded Berling $450,000 as compensation, but his former employer still has the chance to appeal the judge’s decision.
And to think it all started because they decided to throw a birthday party for the guy against his will…
Source: Oddity Central
Odd News
Texas woman’s tongue is the world’s widest at 3.11 inches
A Texas woman was awarded a Guinness World Records title for the surprising contents of her mouth – a 3.11-inch-wide tongue.
Brittany Lacayo told the record-keeping organization she decided to apply for the title after learning about the former record-holder, Emily Schlenker, whose tongue measured 2.89 inches wide.
Lacayo’s tongue is exactly as wide as the average length of an adult woman’s tongue: 3.11 inches.
Her tongue actually is wider than it is long when measured from the epiglottis, the flap of cartilage located behind the tongue.
“It is neat and kind of funny,” Lacayo told Guinness World Records.
The male version of the record belongs to American Brian Thompson, whose tongue measures 3.49 inches wide.
Jokes
One day a mom noticed that when her son was logging onto a favorite website, he typed a very long password. She asked him what it was, and he replied, “MickeyMinnieGoofyPluto.”
She asked him why he would use such a password. “Because,” he explained, “it says your password has to have at least four characters.
Odd News
Ohio man’s dog license number earns him $50,000 lottery prize
An Ohio man used the numbers from his beloved dog’s license tag to play a Pick 5 lottery, drawing and scored a $50,000 prize.
Roger Sours of Tiffin told Ohio Lottery officials he bought a ticket for Wednesday’s Pick 5 drawing at the Pit Stop on N Washington Street in Tiffin and selected a special set of numbers: 1-0-8-2-2.
“I play two sets of numbers for Pick 5 and this number, the number that hit was actually my license number for my German Shepherd that I played. She’s no longer with us anymore,” he said.
Sours said he was shocked when he watched the lottery results on TV.
“I just sat here. I watched the lottery when I can, when it’s on TV and I just sat here. It was like, I froze. I just couldn’t believe that it hit,” he recalled.
Sours said his winnings will go toward taking care of some bills and giving a boost to his savings account.
