Charter Senior Living, LLC, a family-owned business based in Naperville, Illinois that operates senior living communities primarily in the Midwest and South, will pay $31,750 and provide other relief to settle a federal disability discrimination lawsuit filed by the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), the agency announced today. The EEOC charged that Charter Senior Living violated federal law at its Sylvania, Ohio facility by discharging a caregiver whom it perceived as disabled. According to the EEOC’s lawsuit, the caregiver passed her pre-employment physical examination and worked for Charter Senior Living for weeks without incident until the director discovered the caregiver had some nerve damage in her right hand. Upon learning of the nerve damage, the company required the caregiver to have another physical examination. The second examiner concluded that the caregiver met the physical standards of the examination but declined to pass the caregiver unconditionally due to her nerve damage. As a result, Charter Senior Living refused to let the caregiver return to work and ultimately fired her without evaluating whether her nerve damage impacted her ability to perform her job duties.
