EEOC Discrimination Lawsuit Claims Disabled Worker Wrongfully Fired After Being Denied Accommodation
Having represented employment discrimination victims for more than two decades, our Marion County, Florida wrongful termination attorneys know that disabled employees are frequently denied reasonable accommodations for their disability. In far too many cases, our Ocala, Florida wrongful termination lawyers have learned, instead of providing disabled workers with a reasonable accommodation that will enable them to continue working, employers terminate their employment. In this article, our Marion County, Florida wrongful termination attorneys explain how a disability discrimination lawsuit recently resolved by the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) shows that when a disabled employee is denied a reasonable accommodation and the denial culminates in the disabled employee’s termination, the disabled employee has been wrongfully terminated in violation of federal employment discrimination.
Employment Discrimination Lawsuit
On August 12, 2021, the EEOC issued a press release announcing that has entered into a Consent Decree settling a disability discrimination lawsuit against CACI Secured Transformations, LLC and CACI International, Inc. (collectively, CACI). On September 13, 2021, the EEOC filed the disability discrimination lawsuit, U.S. E.E.O.C. v. CACI Secured Transformations, LLC and CACI International, Inc., Case No. 1:19-cv-02693, in the U.S. District Court for the District of Maryland. In the Consent Decree, which was signed by U.S. District Court Judge James K. Bedar on August 11, 2021, CACI agreed to pay $150,000 to resolve the disability discrimination lawsuit.
Disabled Employees’ Rights
The EEOC brought the disability discrimination lawsuit pursuant to the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), as amended by the ADA Amendment Act of 2008, on behalf of a former employee of CACI, a woman named Dyer. Under the ADA, discrimination against disabled employees is an unlawful employment practice. In order to protect disabled employees from discrimination on the basis of disability, the ADA also requires employers to reasonably accommodate employees with a disability. Reasonable accommodations under the ADA include job restructuring, job transfer, and part-time work. When an employer fails to reasonably accommodate an employee’s disability, the employer has discriminated against the employee on the basis of disability in violation of the ADA.
The EEOC claims that CACI discriminated against Dyer by denying her a reasonable accommodation and discharging her because of her disability in violation of the ADA.
Employee Claims Wrongful Termination
In early 2018, Dyer began working for CACI as a systems administrator. As a result of a head injury sustained in a vehicle collision in May 2018, Dyer suffered post-traumatic headache and occipital neuralgia. She was also diagnosed with cerebral aneurysm. Because each condition interferes with the proper functioning of her neurological and brain functions, the EEOC maintains that each condition constitutes a disability within the meaning of the ADA.
From the time of her accident until the second week of August 2018, Dyer was on a medical leave of absence. One month after she returned to work, Dyer was reassigned to a worksite with a cramped and noisy open plan environment. The noisier and more crowded work environment exacerbated her head injury, resulting in more frequent and severe headaches. To avoid extreme pain associated with her aggravated headaches, Dyer made a request to CACI on September 24, 2018, supported by a note from her neurologist, to continue in her in position at her previous worksite. Dyer learned that CACI would not accommodate her.
Dyer continued working at the new worksite but struggled with symptoms of her disability. On October 3, 2018, Dyer stepped away from her desk upon learning that she had developed an aneurysm. When she returned to her desk, she shared this diagnosis with her supervisor. That same day, CACI terminated Dyer’s employment.
Lawyers For Wrongful Termination Victims
The EEOC is the administrative agency of the federal government responsible for interpreting and enforcing federal employment discrimination law. In order to protect and vindicate employee rights, the EEOC files lawsuits on behalf of employees subjected to unlawful discriminatory employment practices, including employees discriminated against on the basis of disability.
In a press release issued by the EEOC on August 12, 2021 regarding the case, a regional attorney for the EEOC’s Philadelphia District Office, Debra M. Lawrence, observed that “our nation recently celebrated the 31st anniversary of the Americans with Disabilities Act, and yet all too often, disabled workers who need reasonable accommodations are still not receiving them.” “The EEOC will continue to aggressively enforce the ADA requirement,” Ms. Lawrence added, “that employers reasonably accommodate their workers with disabilities absent undue hardship.”
Ocala, FL Wrongful Termination Attorneys
Based in Ocala, Florida and representing workers throughout Central Florida, our Marion County, Florida wrongful termination lawyers have fought for the rights of wrongful termination victims for more than twenty years. If you have been wrongfully terminated or have questions about your protection against wrongful termination under federal employment discrimination law, please contact our office for a free consultation with our Ocala, Florida wrongful termination attorneys. Our employee rights law firm takes wrongful termination cases on a contingency fee basis. This means that there are no attorney’s fees incurred unless there is a recovery and our attorney’s fees come solely from the monetary award that you recover.
