Tony Robbins, the life coach and motivational speaker, discriminated against one of his employees by refusing to grant her the accommodations she needed to work from home after she contracted a debilitating case of Covid-19 in the spring, according to a lawsuit filed Wednesday. The lawsuit also charges that Mr. Robbins falsely claimed to have helped the employee recover by asking a doctor friend of his to intervene in her care after she was placed on a ventilator in a medically induced coma. The lawsuit, filed in federal court in Manhattan, accuses Mr. Robbins; his company, Robbins Research International; and his wife, Bonnie P. Robbins, who is known as Sage, of violating several disability laws, including the Americans With Disabilities Act, which requires reasonable accommodations for people with disabilities. The employee, Despina Kosta, worked for Mr. Robbins for 18 years — the first nine in Europe and the last nine in the United States, where she had a job in New York as a sales executive, or “personal results specialist.” She was one of the highest-rated sales employees in the company, according to the lawsuit.

Source: International New York Times December 24, 2020 14:03 UTC