Physicians' Specialty Hospital to Pay $35,000 to Settle EEOC Disability Discrimination Suit
Physicians' Specialty Hospital, a physician-owned hospital in Fayetteville, Ark., will pay $35,000 to settle a disability discrimination lawsuit brought by the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), the agency announced today.
EEOC's lawsuit challenged Physicians' Specialty Hospital's refusal to accommodate a nurse's disability following a seizure. The nurse requested to move to another position that did not involve direct patient care, or, in the alternative, a leave of absence until she could resume her nursing duties. Instead of providing the accommodations, the hospital fired her a few days later.
Under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), it is unlawful to deny a qualified individual with a disability a reasonable accommodation, and it is also unlawful to fire such a person because the individual needs an accommodation. EEOC filed suit (EEOC v. Physicians Specialty Hospital, Civil Action No. 5:15-CV-05237PKH) in U.S. District Court for the Western District of Arkansas, Fayetteville Division, after first attempting to reach a voluntary pre-litigation settlement through its conciliation process.
"Ensuring that people with disabilities have equal opportunities to succeed in the workplace is central to the ADA," said Faye A. Williams, regional attorney of EEOC's Memphis District Office, which has jurisdiction over Arkansas, Tennessee, and portions of Mississippi. "EEOC remains committed to fighting disability discrimination."
A federal jury has found in favor of the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) in a federal disability discrimination lawsuit against the retail giant Dollar General, the federal agency announced today. EEOC had charged Dollar General with firing a cashier at its Maryville, Tenn., store because of her need to treat her diabetes.
How Did Disabilities Become a Partisan Issue?
The Atlantic
Hillary Clinton’s speech Wednesday, advocating for greater support for people with disabilities, shows how a matter that was once universal has become as polarized as the rest of politics.
Harkin stresses ADA must keep up with technology for disabled
The Gazette: Eastern Iowa Breaking News and Headlines
Iowa’s recently retired U.S. Sen. Tom Harkin, who in 1988 introduced the Americans with Disabilities Act into the Senate, told a crowd on the University of Iowa campus Tuesday the labor law is “alive and well” but could go further in protecting rights and preventing discrimination.
Statement of Interest: Alvey v. Gualtieri (M.D. Fla. 2016)
Consent Decree: 30 Hop Restaurant
Fired for drinking store's orange juice, employee wins lawsuit
Wichita Eagle
Linda K. Atkins’ bosses at a Maryville (Tenn.) Dollar General store knew she was diabetic and needed to keep orange juice handy to stave off a hypoglycemic attack.
They knew she swigged a bottle from a store cooler for just that reason while working alone at the register in March 2012 and paid for it later. She told them so. But they fired her anyway.
On Friday, a jury in U.S. District Court ordered Dollar General corporate owner Dolgencorp, LLC, to pay Atkins $250,000 in compensatory damages and $27,565 in back wages, ruling Atkins had been discriminated against and fired because of her diabetic condition.
JD Supra
On September 16, 2016, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit held in a precedential decision that, as a technical legal matter, a student’s eligibility for special education and related services under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) does not automatically result in that student’s eligibility as an individual with a disability under Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 (Section 504) or the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). B.C. v. Mount Vernon Sch. Dist., — F. 3d —, No. 14-3603, 2016 WL 4926147 (2d Cir. Sept. 16, 2016).
Orion Can Require Medical Exams for Health Plan Enrollment
Bloomberg BNA
The EEOC failed to convince a federal judge that Orion Energy Systems Inc. violated the American with Disabilities Act when it required employees who elected to enroll in the company’s health insurance plan to undergo medical examination or pay full premium costs ( EEOC v. Orion Energy Sys., Inc. , 2016 BL 308310, E.D. Wis., No. 1:14-cv-01019, 9/19/16 ).
Department of Justice: If Disabled People Can't Use Berkeley's Free Online Courses, No One Can
Reason (blog)
The university will have to remove free online content that doesn't meet the standards of the Americans with Disabilities Act.