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A former Comcast Cable call center representative in Beaverton claims that the company fired him instead of working with him as he struggled with severe obstructive sleep apnea.

(File photo)

A Beaverton call center employee who claims his sleep apnea caused him to repeatedly fall asleep on the job -- including while on the phone with customers -- has filed a $330,000 lawsuit against his former employer, Comcast Cable, for firing him.

Joseph Dillon Prickett dozed off while on the phone with customers, prompting co-workers to wake him up, according to his lawsuit filed last week in Multnomah County Circuit Court. He also would “drop customer phone calls,” fail to answer calls from customers who were waiting and “make mental errors” while talking to customers because he was so sleepy, the suit states.

His sleepiness was the result of a legally protected disability -- sleep apnea, his suit says. Comcast violated Oregon law by failing to make a "reasonable accommodation" before it fired him, he alleges. Prickett, 30, lives in Beaverton.

A Comcast spokeswoman declined comment on the suit.

According to the suit, Prickett started working as a Comcast customer service representative in June 2012. At some point after that, he developed severe obstructive sleep apnea, which affected his ability to remain awake and alert, concentrate and retain his short-term memory, his suit states.

Prickett was "written up" for his job performance during this time and given a final written warning on Sept. 30, 2103, according to the suit. On Oct. 22, 2013, he was diagnosed with the sleep disorder -- and the next day told his supervisor about the diagnosis and his plans to get a Continuous Positive Airway Pressure (CPAP) machine that would help, according to the suit.

About three weeks later, however, managers called him into a meeting and played recordings of calls during which Prickett “had fallen asleep on the phone, as evidenced by long periods of silence and failures to respond to customers,” the suit says. Prickett told the managers that the previous night was the first night he’d used his new CPAP machine, and that for the first time in months he felt well-rested.

Nonetheless, four days later -- on Nov. 19, 2013 -- Comcast notified him that he was fired, effective the next day, according to the suit. Prickett is seeking his job back, plus $30,000 in back pay and benefits. He also is seeking up to $300,000 in noneconomic damages for pain and suffering.

Portland attorney Christopher Slater is representing Prickett.

-- Aimee Green