EEOC Settles ADA Lawsuit Against Medical Health Group For $125,000
The EEOC alleged that Medical Health Group, Inc., violated the Americans with Disabilties Act ("ADA") when it refused to return an employee, Barbara Metzger, to work after she had recovered from breast cancer surgery. Metzger was had been with the group for 25 years.
About one week before her approved medical leave ended, Metzger was called into work on May 31, 2007. She told her employer the she intended to work without interruption while undergoing her remaining chemotherapy sessions and radiation therapy for her cancer.
The practice administrator then cited examples of people she knew whose cancer treatments made them too sick to work. At the meeting, Metzger was presented with a termination letter that stated she was being fired because she was
“currently unable to return to work on a full-time basis. Due to the seriousness of her illness, and extended nature of the treatment required we must exercise our option to permanently fill your position.”
The ADA prohibits employers from making employment decisions based on assumptions and misinformation about a person’s medical condition. The EEOC filed suit after first attempting to reach a voluntary settlement. This trend among employers to discriminate against long time employees who are facing serious medical problems is troubling. When employers are facing serious problems due to a slow down in the economy or other business problem they ask employees to band together and help the company through its' troubles. However when the employee has the problem, they are cast aside like driftwood on the vast ocean withoug regard for the lifetime of service they have given the company.
“A woman who is bravely battling breast cancer has enough of a challenge without having to lose her job because of unlawful discrimination,” said EEOC Acting Chairman Stuart J. Ishimaru. “The EEOC will stand up for the victims of this sort of bias."
The settlement, which represents almost the complete monetary recovery allowed under the ADA, also requires Medical Health Group to provide two hours of training on employer ADA compliance to its practice administrator one hour of such training to all of its officers, supervisors and managers. The employer will modify its anti-discrimination policies, distribute the new policy to all employees and managerial staff, and post a notice confirming its commitment to comply with the ADA.
