McLeod Health, Inc., a Florence, S.C.-based regional healthcare organization that operates several medical facilities throughout South Carolina, will pay $133,000 and provide other relief to settle a disability discrimination lawsuit brought by the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), the federal agency announced. According to the EEOC’s lawsuit, Cecelia Whitten began working for McLeod Health in 1984 as a communications specialist. In 2012, McLeod required Whitten, who has congenital orthopedic abnormalities, to submit to two medical examinations as a result of McLeod’s assumptions about Whitten’s health and physical abilities. Whitten was placed on leave pending the completion of the medical examinations. Following the medical examinations, McLeod’s Occupational Health Department recommended certain job accommodations for Whitten, which allegedly were not in accord with Whitten’s physical needs or the job she performed. Around Aug. 13, 2012, McLeod informed Whitten that she could not return to work in her position as a communications specialist because McLeod could not provide her with certain of the recommended job accommodations. The EEOC said that despite the fact that Whitten could continue performing her job duties without accommodation as she had for decades, McLeod fired her on Feb. 12, 2013 when she exhausted her available leave under the Family and Medical Leave Act.
