Waconia company to pay worker $50K

A Waconia business accused of wrongly terminating a sick worker must pay that former employee $50,000, according to a settlement announced by the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission on Tuesday. According to an EEOC lawsuit, Applied Vacuum Technology fired Larry Kating of Waconia for failing to call in sick every day during a weeklong hospitalization. The company fired Kating because it "regarded him as having a disability," The EEOC asserted. Under the settlement with EEOC, Applied Vacuum must put together an employee handbook containing its workplace policies, explain those policies to employees and provide training on disability anti-discrimination laws.