BY BEN L. KAUFMAN
The Cincinnati Enquirer
A theater technician has won an unusual $73,810 discrimination verdict against his union for not referring him to Tristate jobs after a mountain-climbing injury left him with balance and speech problems.
Tuesday, attorney Peter Burr said the recent verdict was the first of its kind locally involving a union hiring hall and "we know of no others" nationally.
Technician P. Alan Ropp, 41, of Anderson Township, fell while climbing Mount Communism in the former Soviet Union in 1988.
He told jurors in U.S. District Court that the union's refusal to refer him for work violated the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA).
Mr. Ropp said medical evidence since 1994 indicated he could return to work if his disabilities were reasonably accommodated as the ADA requires.
Wrong, countered the International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees, Cincinnati Stage Employees Local No. 5.
Its witnesses said they relied on medical reports that indicated Mr. Ropp could not handle available assignments safely.
Those involved climbing ladders, working on catwalks and in the dark, union attorney Thomas Korbee said, and the union could not responsibly refer him for such jobs.
Mr. Ropp did not win all he asked.
Magistrate Judge Jack Sherman Jr. refused to order the union to refer Mr. Ropp to available jobs.
Should Mr. Ropp apply again and be denied a referral, Mr. Burr said, it could provoke another discrimination suit. Meanwhile, Mr. Ropp is "not seeking work through the union."
Mr. Korbee said it was "more than likely" the union would appeal. Local 5 represents stage employees for productions at the Aronoff Center, Riverbend, Crown and other theaters.
