Labor&Employment Personnel File

Eight Figure EEOC Settlement Underscores Need for Flexibility in ADA Accommodations

In the September, 2011 edition of HR Magazine, it is reported that 24 named subsidiaries of a telecommunications company collectively paid $20,000,000.00 to settle a nationwide class disability discrimination lawsuit filed in Baltimore arising from charges of discrimination under the Americans with Disabilities Act (“ADA”).  According to the article, this payment constitutes the largest disability discrimination settlement in a single lawsuit in EEOC history.  The settlement is pending court approval.  In a press release issued by the EEOC, the Director of the EEOC’s Philadelphia District Office, said, “[t]his settlement demonstrates the need for employers to have attendance policies which take into account the need for paid or unpaid leave as a reasonable accommodation for employees with disabilities.” 

The 'New and Improved' ADA Amendments Act

Originally published in the Winter 2010 Edition of Chamber’s W.Va. Human Resources Journal

 

Congress enacted the ADA Amendments Act, which went into effect last year, for the explicit purposes of providing expansive protections from disability discrimination and reversing U.S. Supreme Court decisions that Congress felt were inconsistent with the goals of the Americans with Disabilities Act.  In conjunction with the new law, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission issued proposed regulations consistent with the idea of expansive coverage.