EEOC Fines Wellness Center $95,000 For Disability Discrimination
The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission recently fined Nature’s Herb and Wellness Center $95,000 to settle a disability discrimination and retaliation lawsuit. According to the EEOC’s lawsuit, Nature’s Herbs failed to provide a disabled employee with a reasonable accommodation after she informed her manager of the disability and requested an accommodation. When the employee complained that they were being discriminated against, Nature’s Herbs suspended her without pay and later fired her. The EEOC uncovered internal communications regarding the employee’s termination. The owner of Nature’s Herbs instructed human resources to “cut [the employee] loose” because she did not disclose her disabilities when she was hired. Further, the human resources manager referred to the employee as a “fruitcake.”
This conduct violates the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), which prohibits discrimination based on disability. Shortly after the EEOC filed suit, the parties reached an agreement through a consent decree.
Under the terms of the consent decree, Nature’s Herbs will pay the employee $95,000 in back pay and compensatory damages. The decree also requires Nature’s Herbs to prevent future discrimination against disabled employees, and not to retaliate against employees who make good faith claims of discrimination. The decree also requires the company to revise its practices on offering reasonable accommodations to employees with disabilities. Nature’s Herbs will further provide annual training on the ADA to employees in all seven of its locations and report to the EEOC concerning any disability discrimination complaints they receive during the 2-year term of the consent decree.
Reasonable accommodations and disability discrimination
A reasonable accommodation includes:
- Any change to the application or hiring process
- Any change to the way the job is done
- Any change to the work environment
Such accommodations must be rendered in cases where you have a qualified employee who has a disability. Accommodations are “reasonable” when they do not create an undue hardship for the employer. One such example would be allowing a cashier to sit down while they’re ringing up employees. In most cases, cashiers are expected to stand up. But in cases where it would create a serious problem for the employee, they can get medical authorization from a qualified medical professional who will write them a letter saying that they should not be standing up for an extended period of time. The employer is required to honor this request if the employee is qualified to do the job and it wouldn’t create undue hardship.
In the case mentioned above, the employee was denied a reasonable accommodation and fired for requesting one. Now, the company is required to pay that employee $95,000 and has the EEOC breathing down their neck for the next two years.
Talk to a Columbus, OH Employment Discrimination Lawyer Today
Kohl & Cook Law Firm, LLC represents the interests of both employers and employees in employment discrimination cases. Call our Columbus employment lawyers today to schedule an appointment, and we can begin investigating your case right away.
Source:
eeoc.gov/newsroom/natures-herbs-wellness-center-pay-95000-eeoc-disability-and-retaliation-case
