Verizon Settlement Highlights Need For ADA Accommodation
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Written by Margaret V. Thomas
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Sunday, 25 December 2011 |
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Verizon Communications' payment of $20 million to resolve a nationwide class disability discrimination lawsuit filed by the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) would constitute the largest disability discrimination settlement in a single lawsuit in EEOC history. The settlement is pending court approval. The underlying suit, which was filed pursuant to the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) against 24 named subsidiaries of Verizon Communications, alleged that the company unlawfully denied reasonable accommodations to hundreds of employees and disciplined or fired them under Verizon's "no fault" attendance plans.
The EEOC charged that Verizon violated the ADA by refusing to make exceptions to accommodate employees with disabilities. Under the attendance policy, if an employee accumulated a number of "chargeable absences," Verizon placed the employee on a disciplinary step, which ultimately could result in more-serious consequences, including termination. The EEOC claimed that Verizon failed to provide reasonable accommodations for people with disabilities by refusing to make exceptions for individuals whose "chargeable absences" were caused by their disabilities.
Employers need to make sure they are engaging in an interactive process with employees to identify reasonable accommodations, and they must take into account the more liberal definition of what constitutes a disability under the recent ADA Amendments Act, said Robin Shea, an attorney with Constangy, Brooks & Smith in Winston-Salem, N.C.
But an employer need not excuse an employee's absence indefinitely, Shea noted. "Most court decisions that have addressed attendance under the ADA say that regular attendance is a necessary function of most jobs," she said. "You may have to provide telecommuting, but you don't have to put up with someone who can never come to work."
$20M Amount paid by Verizon Communications to settle a nationwide class disability discrimination lawsuit.
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Last Updated ( Sunday, 25 December 2011 )
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Average Settlement Payment
