EEOC Sues Cessna for Disability Discrimination
JD Supra
Aircraft manufacturer Cessna Aircraft Company violated federal law by rescinding job offers to applicants -- who were medically qualified to perform the jobs -- because of generalized standards that were not relevant to the individual employee, the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission charged in a lawsuit filed yesterday. These standards included workers' compensation maximum medical improvement (MMI) standards, EEOC said.
According to EEOC's lawsuit, Cessna rescinded job offers to William Cote, Clark Buehler and a class of similarly situated individuals at facilities throughout the country, including its Citation Service Center in Milwaukee, when it learned of their medical conditions. Cote, who was offered a position as a mechanical inspector, passed his post-offer medical examination, but advised Cessna that he was scheduled for outpatient surgery for carpal tunnel syndrome. Cessna took back his job offer on the basis of the workers' compensation estimate of average time for recovery from such surgery, despite his own physician's report that he was able to work without restrictions.
Such alleged conduct violates the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), which prohibits discrimination based on disability. It also prohibits use of qualification standards, such as compliance with workers compensation standards, which tend to screen out persons with disabilities. The lawsuit, filed in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Wisconsin (Equal Employment Opportunity Commission v. Cessna Aircraft Co., Civil Action No. 2:15-cv-01166-LA), seeks damages for Cote and other conditional employees whose job offers were rescinded because of their disabilities, as well as injunctive relief. "Workers' compensation guidelines do not supersede the ADA," said EEOC Chicago District Regional Attorney John Hendrickson. "Employers are required to comply with both laws. With regard to the ADA, that means that employers must make individualized assessments of applicants and employees abilities to perform the essential functions of their jobs as soon as the employer becomes aware of impairments. An employer cannot wait to comply with the ADA until an employee is at maximum medical improvement."
EEOC Sues Peoria Dealership Green Chevrolet for Disability Discrimination and Retaliation
JD Supra
Green Chevrolet, an auto dealership in Peoria, Ill., violated federal law by forcing a transfer on a service manager because of a disability and then firing him for resisting the transfer, the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) charged in a lawsuit it filed yesterday.
EEOC's investigation revealed that Green Chevrolet approached the employee on the very day he returned to work from beginning treatment for kidney failure to tell him he was being transferred into a position that had not previously existed. The employee was concerned that this transfer was actually the first step in firing him and put off the transfer as long as possible. When he was eventually told that he would be starting his new position within a matter of days, the employee asked his managers why none of the white employees were being considered for the new position. He was terminated days later. Green Chevrolet later characterized this question as "playing the race card" and has admitted that this question played a role in its decision making regarding the employee. Such alleged conduct violates the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), which prohibits discrimination based on disability. Both the ADA and Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 also prohibit retaliation against an employee for opposing practices made unlawful under these acts. The lawsuit, filed Sept. 29 in U.S. District Court for the Central District of Illinois (Equal Employment Opportunity Commission v. Green Chevrolet, Inc., Civil Action No. 15-1412), seeks damages for the former employee as well as injunctive relief. The case will be heard by District Judge Michael M. Mihm.
Effects of trauma could constitute disability, judge rules in Compton Unified case
Los Angeles Times
Students who have experienced trauma could be eligible for some of the same protections as students with disabilities based on the effects of that trauma, according to a ruling by a federal judge Tuesday.
But the degrees, types and effects of trauma that would trigger such protections have yet to be determined.
The procedural rulings from Judge Michael W. Fitzgerald came in response to a lawsuit filed on behalf of five students and three teachers in the Compton Unified School District that aimed to establish “complex trauma” as a type of disability under the Americans with Disabilities Act and Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act.
Representing the plaintiffs, Los Angeles-based pro bono firm Public Counsel presented the judge with research showing that exposure to trauma can hurt a student’s ability to learn, much in the same way as other impairments.
Pork roll maker accused of firing worker who passed too much gas
MyCentralJersey.com
One of the state’s leading pork roll makers is being sued by the wife of an employee who was allegedly fired for passing too much gas in the office.
Developers shocked by suit over disability act
Anniston Star
Officials with a company sued over noncompliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act concerning 71 housing properties — including three in Jacksonville — today released a statement that characterized the case as unnecessary and overblown.
The U.S. Department of Justice on Wednesday filed a suit in federal court in Birmingham, saying the defendants failed to design and construct housing units and related facilities accessible to people with disabilities.
The suit names as defendants Alabama-based developers Allan Rappuhn, Gateway Construction Corporation, Gateway Development Corporation and other affiliated companies, according to a release from the department.
Three of the 71 complexes are Hickory Run Apartments, Hickory Run II Apartments and Brookstone Village Apartments, all in Jacksonville, according to the release. All of the local complexes are near one another off Gardner Drive east of Jacksonville Cemetery.
According to the release from the agency, the suit alleges that 36 properties in Alabama, 25 in Georgia, nine in North Carolina and one in Tennessee have inaccessible parking; insufficient room in bathrooms and kitchens; significant barriers leading to building entrances; and non-existent or excessively sloped pedestrian routes from apartment units to amenities like picnic areas and offices.
Indiana's first accessible canoe and kayak launch
The Rushville Republican
A new accessible boat launching facility in Northwestern Indiana will make it easier for paddlers of all abilities to get on the water. The canoe and kayak launch at Michigan City’s Hansen Park complies with the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), making it the first of its kind in Indiana.
Getting ready for ADA website regulations
Overlawyered
As I’ve said more than once, I view the Department of Justice’s much-delayed plans to mandate “accessibility” of websites under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) as perhaps the single most under-reported and alarming regulation that I know of in the federal pipeline. Here is a June rundown from Porter Wright attorneys Bob Morgan and Melissa Barnett of the state of play on the issue. It notes, as has our coverage, that even without getting around to issuing regs, DoJ is busy using ADA settlements to impose its views of accessibility on businesses it sues.