Filed in U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Georgia, the lawsuit alleged that Stern requested his employers permit him to continue working from home. He cited respiratory susceptibility to the coronavirus, and a desire to protect his children from potential exposure.

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But a company backlash culminated in him being phased out of employment, the suit alleged.

"The hosts were required to be physically in the studio and our client, who was asthmatic, was never offered the ability to work from home when people started being required to come back into the studio," said Stern's attorney, Michael J. Willemin, a partner at Wigdor in New York City. "So he did come into the studio, for instance on Aug. 5, and then the very next day, he learned that there were two individuals who were in the building that day who tested positive for COVID-19."

Willemin, who represents Stern alongside James E. Radford of Radford and Keebaugh in Decatur, said following the accommodation request and subsequent exposure threat, the broadcast company allowed Stern to remain home, but to the detriment of his career.

The complaint alleged the defendants pulled Stern from existing coverage. It claimed they also began scheduling him for fewer shifts, after he expressed disinterest in hosting a program that created a scheduling conflict with his child care responsibilities.

"He was quickly sidelined and ultimately lost his job," Willemin said. "Had he been a woman, he wouldn't have been treated in the same way. There would have been more sympathy towards the need to take care of his family."

Attorneys with McFadden Davis in Atlanta, who are representing Warner Media and Turner Sports, did not respond to requests for comment.

The defendants have until July 26 to file an answer the complaint.

'Had he been a woman'

While Willemin said the novelty of reverse discrimination makes the case standout, it's part of a growing trend of COVID-19-related employment lawsuits driven by employers' failures to accommodate changing staff needs.

In most instances, he said, cases involved employees needing to work from home due to child care, health or coronavirus-recovery reasons.

"A lot of times employers haven't been very sympathetic to those requested accommodations," Willemin said. "I'm not sure how long that will continue to last, but we may see another uptick in cases like this later in the summer and in the fall when more companies get back to work full time."

The lawsuit highlights an area of concern for employers post-pandemic.

Atlanta-based civil litigator Joyce Gist Lewis of Krevolin Horst anticipated employment lawsuits surrounding discrimination, while civil trial attorney Brittanie D. Browning of Hall Booth Smith in Atlanta expected to see litigation around employment vaccination requirements.

Willemin agreed, citing his client's quest to hold the broadcast employer legally accountable on discrimination claims.

"Ultimately, a jury will decide what that means in terms of dollar and cents, but [Stern] just wants to make sure that these entities are held accountable so that other individuals who have child care responsibilities or who have health issues in the future don't get treated negatively," Willemin said. "We want to send a message through a jury verdict that that's not the way that you can or should treat people at work."

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