A public hospital in Atlanta, Georgia, will pay $55,000 and furnish other relief to settle a disability discrimination lawsuit filed by the US Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC).
According to the EEOC’s suit, the hospital 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 the hospital 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, the hospital 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.
Marcus G. Keegan, regional attorney for the EEOC’s Atlanta District Office, said, “Providing an accommodation for an employee’s disability is an important obligation. [The hospital] will not only compensate the claimant; it will also take the steps necessary to improve its accommodation process to ensure this does not happen again.”
Compliance Perspective
Issue
An employer may not penalize an employee for using leave as a reasonable accommodation. Doing so would be a violation of the ADA because it would render the leave an ineffective accommodation; it also may constitute retaliation for use of a reasonable accommodation. The ADA requires that employers make exceptions to their policies, including leave policies, in order to provide a reasonable accommodation. It is also illegal to harass an applicant or employee because of a current or past disability, an actual or perceived physical or mental impairment that is not transitory and minor, or for association with an individual with a disability. Harassment is illegal when it is so frequent or severe that it creates a hostile or offensive work environment or when it results in an adverse employment decision (such as the victim being fired or demoted).
Discussion Points
- Review your policies and procedures on ADA, medical leave, and the prevention of discrimination and retaliation. Ensure that your state’s laws for discrimination and retaliation are included in the policies and procedures. Update as needed.
- Train human resources staff and facility leadership on ADA requirements, including reasonable accommodations. Document that these trainings occurred and file each signed document in the employee’s individual education file.
- Periodically audit to ensure that all employees who requested medical leave were not discriminated against and that your policies and procedures for ADA were followed. In addition, ensure that all staff are aware of how to report any concerns of discrimination or retaliation.
*This news alert has been prepared by Med-Net Concepts, LLC for informational purposes only and is not intended to provide legal advice.*
