Settlement Reached in ADA Employee Leave Lawsuit

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A New Jersey-based healthcare company agreed to pay $1.35 million to settle a discrimination lawsuit brought by the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission over the company’s alleged violations of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA).

An employee alleged that he had worked for Princeton HealthCare System for just under a year before asking for leave because of a condition covered by the Americans with Disabilities Act. Instead, he was terminated, and soon after contacted the EEOC which began the workplace discrimination lawsuit.

In addition to the financial penalty, the healthcare provider was required to make significant changes to its employment policies, including providing “flexibility and individualized consideration of requests for a a reasonable accommodation and will not require that the employee use any particular words[.]” It must also act consistently any time an employee makes such a request.

The EEOC said the case is significant because it highlights workplace protections afforded under the ADA, including taking a leave.

“This case should send a clear message that a leave of absence is a reasonable accommodation under the law,” Robert D. Rose, regional attorney of EEOC’s New York District Office, said in a statement. “Policies that limit the amount of leave, even if they comply with other laws, violate the ADA when they call for the automatic firing of employees with a disability after they reach a rigid, inflexible leave limit.”

In addition to the policy changes and financial settlement, the company must keep a record of every employee that asks for an accommodation that includes “the action taken on each request and, if the requested accommodation was not provided or the employee was terminated (voluntarily or involuntarily) or disciplined due to the failure or inability to return work from a leave of absence, the reason(s) the particular action was taken” as well as an overview of the whole process.

The agency also required that in order to resolve the lawsuit, Princeton HealthCare needs to place special emphasis on pregnancy-related disabilities that are different from those prescribed by the Family Medical Leave Act. While those are in place, conditions that arise out of pregnancy or child care can still be covered under the Americans with Disabilities Act.

The agency was represented by lawyers Rosemary DiSavino, Elizabeth Grossman, Jadhira V. Rivera, Judy Keenan and Raechel Lee Adams.

The hospital ADA lawsuit is Equal Employment Opportunity Commission v. Princeton HealthCare System, Case No. 10-cv-04126, in the U.S. District Court for New Jersey.