Pittsburgh Hospital Agrees to Pay $100,000 to Settle ADA Lawsuit Brought by EEOC.

Yesterday, the EEOC announced that “a Pittsburgh hospital has agreed to pay $100,000 and furnish other equitable relief to settle a disability discrimination lawsuit brought by” the EEOC which “had charged the hospital with firing an employee because she had cancer.” The lawsuit suit was filed at Civil Action No. 08-1358, filed in U.S. District Court for the Western District of Pennsylvania. According to the EEOC’s lawsuit, the plaintiff “needed a reasonable accommodation for her disability after she had surgery for cancer and underwent chemotherapy. [She] was a longstanding employee of LifeCare Hospitals of Pittsburgh or its predecessor and had a good performance record.”

According to the EEOC’s allegations, the defendant employer “initially provided a reasonable accommodation to” the plaintiff. However, “in about August 2007 the regional director of finance suddenly stopped accommodating [her] disability and demanded that she return to work full-time with no restrictions.” After she “returned to work full-time, the supervisor discriminated against her because of her disability, including substantially increasing her workload, removing her full-time staff assistant, and subjecting her to unwarranted work scrutiny.” Ultimately, “the hospital fired [the plaintiff] because of her disability.”

The EEOC announced that “the consent decree resolving the lawsuit prohibits the hospital from engaging in disability discrimination and retaliation. As part of the settlement, the hospital will also train all employees regarding the ADA’s prohibitions against disability discrimination. LifeCare did not admit liability in the consent decree, which is pending judicial approval. . . . During Fiscal Year 2008, disability discrimination charges rose to 19,453 -- an increase of 10 percent from the prior fiscal year and the highest number of disability bias charges filed with the EEOC in 14 years.”

Insomniacs can read the full press release at http://www.eeoc.gov/press/5-12-09.html.

NOTICE: This summary is designed merely to inform and alert you of recent legal developments. It does not constitute legal advice and does not apply to any particular situation because different facts could lead to different results. Information here can change or be amended without notice. Readers should not act upon this information without legal advice. If you have any questions about anything you have read, you should consult with or retain an employment attorney.