Grady Memorial Hospital Corporation, a public hospital in Atlanta, Ga., will pay $55,000 and furnish other relief to settle a disability discrimination lawsuit filed by the US Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, the federal agency announced. According to the EEOC’s suit, Grady violated federal law by failing to accommodate an employee’s disability and then firing her because of that disability. The employee requested approximately five weeks of leave from work due to a medical condition. When she attempted to return to work on the date provided by her original doctor’s note, she was told she needed to provide another doctor’s note. The employee attempted to obtain a new doctor’s note, but Grady discharged her before she was able to do so for allegedly violating one of its work rules, which was a pretext for discrimination, the EEOC said.
Such conduct violates the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), as amended, which requires that disabilities be accommodated and prohibits discharging an employee because of a disability. The EEOC filed suit after first attempting to reach a pre-litigation settlement via its conciliation process. Under the two-year consent decree settling the suit, Grady will pay the former employee $55,000; train its employees on the ADA; make changes to its employment policies; and allow the EEOC to monitor how it handles future requests for accommodation.
