Shelby Baptist Medical Center and its operating companies will pay $60,000 and provide other injunctive relief to settle claims of disability discrimination and retaliation in a lawsuit filed by the US Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC). According to the lawsuit, Shelby Baptist illegally discriminated against a behavioral health technician with degenerative disc disease, which impaired her ability to perform her existing job functions. The technician requested reassignment to a vacant position for which she was qualified. Instead of accommodating her through a reassignment, the hospital denied the accommodation and fired the technician in retaliation for requesting it. Such alleged conduct violated Title I of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), which prohibits employment discrimination on the basis of disability and requires employers to grant reasonable accommodations to qualified employees with disabilities unless doing so would impose an undue hardship. The ADA also prohibits retaliation for engaging in protected conduct such as requesting reasonable accommodations.
