New York Paralegal Blog

A recent lawsuit filed by the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) against Champion Media, LLC has been settled, with the North Carolina-based publishing company agreeing to pay $102,500 and implement other significant changes. The lawsuit accused Champion Media of disability discrimination for refusing to provide a sign language interpreter to a deaf job applicant. The incident occurred at Champion Media's printing facility in Lumberton, North Carolina. A qualified deaf applicant was selected for an in-person interview after an initial phone conversation assisted by a video relay service. The applicant simply requested a sign language interpreter for the interview as a reasonable accommodation. Instead of providing the interpreter, Champion Media canceled the interview and ultimately did not hire the applicant. The EEOC stated that this action violates the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). The ADA makes it illegal for companies to discriminate again...

PEORIA , Ill. – A federal court jury in Peoria has returned a verdict of $600,000 against AutoZone, Inc. for failing to provide a reasonable accommodation to a disabled sales manager, the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) announced today. An additional claim for $115,000 in back pay will be decided by the presiding judge at a later date. In the lawsuit brought by the EEOC, AutoZone was charged with requiring a sales manager to perform certain cleaning tasks, including mopping floors, that violated his medical restrictions. The sales manager, who worked at the company’s Macomb, Ill., retail store until 2003, is disabled with permanent back and neck impairments. The EEOC presented evidence that mopping floors was a non-essential function of the sales manager position that could have been reassigned to other employees, and that the employee could perform all of the essential functions of his job. The sales manager testified that that he asked not to be assigned mopping...

INDIANAPOLIS – Affiliated Computer Services, Inc. (ACS), the company under contract with the State of Indiana to operate many of Indiana’s public benefits programs, will pay $55,000 to settle a disability discrimination lawsuit brought by the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), the agency announced today. The EEOC had charged in its suit (Civil Action No. 1:11-cv-00015-PPS-RBC in U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Indiana, Hammond Division) that ACS and Alpha Rae Personnel, Inc., the staffing firm that supports the company, violated federal law by refusing to accommodate an employee’s known disabilities and by terminating her assignment to ACS instead. Such conduct violates the Americans With Disabilities Act (ADA) and Title I of the Civil Rights Act of 1991. The EEOC filed suit after first attempting to reach a pre-litigation settlement. A consent decree agreed to by the EEOC, ACS and Alpha Rae and entered by the court requires that for...

IESI Concedes It Fired Employee for Dyslexia in Violation of ADA NEW ORLEANS – IESI LA Corporation, a wholly-owned subsidiary of IESI Corpora­tion, a national waste removal firm, will pay $95,000 to settle a disability discrimination suit filed in June 2009 by the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), the agency announced today. The court-approved settlement resolves the charge of a former truck driver, Ronald Harper, who worked for IESI at its facility in Shreveport, La. In its suit, the EEOC charged that IESI violated the Americans With Disabilities Act (ADA) when it fired Harper because of his disability, dyslexia, even though Harper was able to perform the essential functions of his job. According to the EEOC’s suit, on the morning of August 12, 2005, Harper told his new supervisor that he is dyslexic. Approximately four hours later, the supervisor fired Harper, stating that he did not want to take the chance of Harper’s dyslexia causing him to see things “swirly...

WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. – The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) today announced it has filed a disability discrimination lawsuit against KobeWieland Copper Products, LLC (KobeWieland) for failing to hire an individual because of his perceived disability at its facility in Pine Hall, North Carolina. KobeWieland manufactures and sells copper tubing, and employs over 500 associates between its two plants in Pine Hall, NC and Wheeling, IL. According to the EEOC’s complaint, KobeWieland failed to hire Joseph Cardwell for a full-time caster position because it regarded him as being disabled. Due to a childhood accident, Cardwell lost fingers on his left hand. Cardwell was offered a position by KobeWieland on September 24, 2008. However, when Cardwell reported for his first day of work, KobeWieland’s Human Resource Specialist noticed that Cardwell was missing fingers, and rescinded the offer of employment. The Human Resources Specialist stated that he was concerned that Cardwe...

Federal Agency Says Health Care Provider Unlawfully Fired Employees Who Needed Medical Leave NEWARK, N.J. – Princeton HealthCare System, which operates a hospital and provides other health care services, violated federal law by failing to reasonably accommodate the needs of its employees who needed medical leave, and then firing them because of their disabilities, the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) charged in a lawsuit it filed today. According to the EEOC’s suit, Princeton HealthCare System enforces leave policies that do not provide reasonable accommodations to qualified individuals with a disability. Princeton HealthCare fires employees who are not qualified for leave under the Family Medical Leave Act (FMLA) if they cannot return to work within seven days, and refuses to grant leave beyond the 12 weeks allowed by the FMLA. Princeton HealthCare System does not grant exceptions to these policies for qualified individuals with disabilities who need additional ...

Deaf Groomer Penalized for Inability to Speak While Her Customers Were Funneled to Non-Deaf Employees, EEOC Charged DENVER – Pet store giant PETCO Animal Supplies Stores, Inc. will pay $145,000 and furnish other relief to settle a disability discrimination lawsuit filed by the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), the agency announced today. The EEOC had charged the company with failing to accommodate a deaf pet groomer formerly employed at one of its stores in Aurora, Colo. According to the EEOC, San Diego-based PETCO hired Nancy Buchner – who has over 30 years’ pet grooming experience – as a pet stylist in 2001. Profoundly deaf since birth, Buchner communicates most effectively in sign language. Upon hire, PETCO’s management assured Buchner that other employees would assist in scheduling her appointments via telephone as a reasonable accommodation.

Discount Cabinets Refused Request for Phone With Volume Control, Then Fired Warehouse Worker, Federal Agency Charges DENVER – The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) charged in a lawsuit filed earlier this week that Discount Cabinets and Appliances, a Denver-based retail company, violated the Americans With Disabilities Act (ADA) when it denied a hearing-impaired warehouse assistant’s request that the company provide a telephone with volume control, and shortly thereafter fired him because of his disability. According to the EEOC’s suit, Discount Cabinets contacted a temporary employment agency in 2008 to request placement of a warehouse assistant in a temporary-to-permanent job at the company’s store and warehouse in Denver. The temporary agency recommended Ramon Guzman, who had experience in a similar warehouse job. Guzman has had a significant hearing loss since birth as well as resulting difficulty with speech. The company accepted his placement.

MINNEAPOLIS – Judge Richard Kyle of U.S. District Court for the District of Minnesota issued an order on June 2 denying in part the motion of Hibbing Taconite Company for summary judgment in a disability discrimination lawsuit brought by the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), the agency announced today. In its lawsuit, EEOC v. Hibbing Taconite Company, Civ. No. 09-729 (RHK/RLE), originally filed March 31, 2009, the EEOC charged that Hibbing Taconite Company discriminated against James Edstrom, who is deaf, when it denied him employment at its mine. The EEOC contends that Hibbing Taconite rejected Edstrom, who formerly worked for LTV Mining, because of his hearing impairment, in violation of the Americans With Disabilities Act (ADA).

Federal Court Approves Largest Monetary Amount Ever in Single EEOC ADA Suit; Employees Allegedly Terminated Based on Inflexible Workers’ Compensation Leave Exhaustion Policy CHICAGO – The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) today announced the entry of a record-setting consent decree resolving a class lawsuit against Sears, Roebuck and Co. (Sears) under the Americans With Disabilities Act (ADA) for $6.2 million and significant remedial relief. The consent decree, approved this morning by Federal District Judge Wayne Andersen, represents the largest ADA settlement in a single lawsuit in EEOC history. The EEOC’s suit alleged that Sears maintained an inflexible workers’ compensation leave exhaustion policy and terminated employees instead of providing them with reasonable accommodations for their disabilities, in violation of the ADA.

EEOC Says Class of Disabled Employees Fired After Taking Medical Leaves of Absence CHICAGO - In a major class lawsuit filed here in federal court, the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) charged that Atlanta-based United Parcel Service, Inc. (UPS), the world's largest package delivery company, violated federal law by rejecting an extension of medical leave as a reasonable accommodation for its employees with disabilities. The EEOC's administrative investigation, conducted prior to filing the lawsuit and supervised by Chicago District Director John Rowe, found that UPS violated the Americans With Disabilities Act (ADA). According to Rowe, Trudi Momsen, an administrative assistant at UPS, took a 12-month leave of absence from work when she began experiencing symptoms of what was later diagnosed as multiple sclerosis. She returned to work for a few weeks, but soon thereafter needed additional time off after experiencing what she believed to be negative side eff...