Tallahassee Memorial Hospital Pays $375K to Settle EEOC Disability Suit

Tallahassee, Fla. — Tallahassee Memorial Healthcare, Inc., a private community healthcare system comprised of 2 hospitals, multiple specialty care centers, three residency programs, and 32 affiliated physician practices, will pay $375,000 to a class of employees and furnish other relief to settle a disability discrimination lawsuit filed by the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC).

The EEOC charged in its lawsuit that Tallahassee Memorial violated federal law by maintaining an inflexible 12-week maximum leave policy. The EEOC also alleged that when employees with disabilities requested additional leave beyond the Family Medical Leave Act (FMLA), Tallahassee Memorial denied the requests, rather than engaging in an interactive process with each individual to determine if he or she could be accommodated. In addition to the $375,000 in monetary relief, the consent decree settling the lawsuit provides for extensive injunctive relief to help secure a workplace free from disability discrimination. This includes Tallahassee Memorial appointing a trained ADA Coordinator that will make all decisions concerning requests for reasonable accommodations, conducting mandatory training for human resources personnel, managers and employees, and reporting of all requests for reasonable accommodations denied by Tallahassee Memorial to the EEOC. In addition, Tallahassee Memorial has changed its leave policy such that it will determine on an individualized basis whether employees with disabilities can be accommodated by additional leave beyond the FMLA.