Hospital Settles Disabillity Discrimination Lawsuit

For not obeying the laws prohibiting disability discrimination this employer ended up with these sanctions:
1. $142,500 in back pay and compensatory damages.
2. Payment to employee’s attorney.
3. A 26-month consent decree prohibiting further discrimination and retaliatory behavior.
4. Maintenance and distribution of procedures for responding to accommodation requests.
5. Anti-discrimination training for employees, managers, and the hospital’s human resources department.
6. Monitoring and reporting.
7. Posting a notice about EEOC and the lawsuit.

“This problem, like so many others, could have been avoided if this employer had simply fulfilled its legal obligation to work with the employee to find a reasonable accommodation,” said EEOC Acting Chairman Stuart Ishimaru.

Here’s What Happened

Hudson Valley Hospital Center Inc. must pay $142,500 to a former nurse to settle a disability discrimination lawsuit brought by the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC). The EEOC’s lawsuit charged the hospital discriminated against the nurse on the basis of her disability, Type I “brittle” diabetes, after she experienced a diabetic coma for which she was treated at Hudson Valley.

The lawsuit charged the hospital failed to grant Romano a reasonable accommodation to permit her to modify her part-time work schedule as an employee health nurse so she could work three days in a row rather than alternate workdays. The nurse’s treating doctor submitted documentation stating she needed a more consistent schedule to enable her to gain better control over her diabetes.

Although the hospital initially granted the request for schedule modification, and the nurse had previously worked a similar schedule without problems, the EEOC said, the hospital withdrew the schedule accommodation, stating it unduly disrupted the hospital’s business operations. The EEOC charged that the hospital endangered the nurse’s physical health and effectively terminated her employment by refusing to accommodate her request to work the modified part-time schedule. (workersxzcompxzkit)

The EEOC said the hospital’s failure to grant a reasonable accommodation, and the employee’s resulting termination of employment, violated the Americans With Disabilities Act (ADA), prohibiting employment discrimination based on disability. The EEOC filed suit after first attempting to reach a voluntary settlement out of court.

Author Robert Elliott, executive vice president, Amaxx Risks Solutions, Inc. has worked successfully for 20 years with many industries to reduce Workers’ Compensation costs, including airlines, health care, manufacturing, printing/publishing, pharmaceuticals, retail, hospitality and manufacturing. He can be contacted at: Robert_Elliott@ReduceYourWorkersComp.com or 860-553-6604.

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