Bradley Kilburn is suing what briefly was his new employer after the company fired him allegedly because his wife has Multiple Sclerosis (MS). In September 2010, Kilburn moved from Minnesota to Pocatello, Idaho, to begin his new position as fire alarm department manager for Fire Services of Idaho. A month later, the company’s owner, John Holman, introduced Kilburn to a representative of the Fire Services’ health insurance provider, Allegis Financial Partners, who helped Kilburn fill out his insurance application.

 

But after Holman learned that Kilburn’s wife, Jennifer, had MS (a fact that Kilburn did not hide), he terminated Kilburn, saying that Jennifer’s condition would make insurance costs go “through the roof.”

 

Kilburn is seeking costs and punitive damages from Fire Services of Idaho for discrimination and violations of several federal laws and Idaho’s human rights statutes.

-Noel Brinkerhoff, David Wallechinsky

 

A Textbook Case on U.S. Health Care (by Philip Janquart, Courthouse News Service)

Bradley Kilburn v. Fire Services of Idaho (U.S. District Court, Idaho) (pdf)