Verizon Pays $115,000 To Settle Disability Discrimination Lawsuit

The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) recently filed suit against Verizon Maryland, LLC and leveraged a settlement of $115,000 on behalf of an employee who was denied a reasonable accommodation due to a disability. According to the EEOC’s lawsuit, a management employee who suffered from hypertension asked his manager for a change to a field position or to an alternate management position to accommodate his disability. The suit alleged that there was an opening for a field position that the employee previously held, but Verizon did not allow him to compete for that position. Instead, they told him that he would have to resign and reapply for the position in six months. The company refused to offer any other accommodation to the employee. He was not offered opportunities to compete for other vacant management positions. Ultimately, the employee was forced to quit due to his medical problems, the suit alleged.

This conduct violates the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), which prohibits discrimination based on disability.

In addition to the $115,000 monetary award paid to the former manager, Verizon Maryland, LLC will be forced to operate under a 30-month consent decree preventing the company from offering resignation and reapplication as an accommodation under the ADA. Further, the company is required to provide training on the ADA, including a specific statement that resignation and reapplication is not a reasonable accommodation. Verizon is further required to report to the EEOC on how it handles any future disability discrimination complaints.

Understanding reasonable accommodations under the ADA 

In this case, the employee reported that he had a genuine medical ailment related to his position. The position was hampering his hypertension for which he had a medical diagnosis. The employee asked the company he worked for to transfer him to a different position, one which he was familiar with. Instead of accommodating this request, the company forced him to resign and reapply. The EEOC contends that this does not constitute a reasonable accommodation under the ADA. Instead, the company should have transferred him to the position he requested, and for which there was an active job opening. Instead, they wanted him to resign and thus got themselves sued.

Employers are required by law to make reasonable accommodations for employees with disabilities unless the accommodation would cause them undue hardship. In this case, transferring the manager to another position (which Verizon was actively recruiting for) would not have created undue hardship. The manager was familiar with the position, having worked it before. Hence, the company violated his rights under the ADA by forcing him to resign and reapply.

Talk to a Dayton, Ohio Employment Discrimination Lawyer Today 

Kohl & Cook Law Firm, LLC represents the interests of employees who have been discriminated against based on a disability. If you have been denied a reasonable accommodation due to a disability, you may be entitled to recover damages from your employer. Call our Columbus employment lawyers today to schedule an appointment, and we can begin investigating your case right away.

Source:

eeoc.gov/newsroom/verizon-maryland-pay-115000-eeoc-disability-discrimination-suit-0