Joseph Kinneary, the “shy peerer” fired by the city for failing to whiz in a cup, won’t get his $225,000 wrongful termination damages after all. In 2004 when the former Department of Environmental Protection employee claimed his paruresis (aka shy bladder) kept him from completing a mandatory drug test and led to his firing, a judge ruled in his favor, citing the Americans with Disabilities Act. But the Post reports that, in an affront to shy bladder sufferers everywhere, the decision has been reversed, based on pure technicalities.
According to the ruling, a letter from his doctor “did not say that Kinneary had a medical condition that did, or with a high probability could have, precluded Kinneary from providing a sufficient amount of urine for the test." Instead it named the condition and indicated that the patient wasn’t a drug user, a claim confirmed by blood, hair and saliva tests. Kineary’s lawyer is disappointed and is considering asking the judge to rehear the case. But if history shows us anything, it’s that the shy bladder defense just won’t float in the courtroom.
