Assisted Living Facility Settles EEOC Disability Discrimination Suit

Source: Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC)

LINCOLN, Neb. – An assisted living center has agreed to settle a disability discrimination lawsuit filed by the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), the agency announced today.

In its lawsuit filed in U.S. District Court for the District of Nebraska in June 2010, the EEOC charged the company violated the Americans With Disabilities Act (ADA) when it refused to accept temporary placement of Amanda Huff, a hearing-impaired certified nursing assistant (CNA), at its Lincoln facility because of her disability.

In the consent decree submitted to the court for approval, the company agreed to pay Huff $10,000 in settlement of the EEOC claim. The company also agreed to provide training to all management and supervisory employees on the topics of disability discrimination and reasonable accommodation under the ADA. In addition, the company agreed for three years to provide the EEOC a report of every request for reasonable accommodation made by its employees or staffing agency employees seeking to be placed with the company.

“Cases like these are especially important since the EEOC does not have an office in Nebraska,” said EEOC attorney Melvin Kennedy. “But this agency will fulfill its mission in every state. Such cases should remind employers the EEOC can effectively enforce the nation’s anti-discrimination laws with the help of its partnerships with state agencies such as the Nebraska Equal Opportunity Commission, which investigated Ms. Huff’s discrimination charge.”

The EEOC is responsible for enforcing federal laws prohibiting employment discrimination. Further information about the Commission is available on the agency’s web site at www.eeoc.gov.

To find out more about the laws prohibiting employment discrimination, or for anti-discrimination training to protect your company from liability, please contact Berkshire Associates at 800.882.8904 or email bai@berkshireassociates.com.