Healthcare Compliance Perspective:
Healthcare providers, under the Americans with Disabilities Act, must reasonably accommodate an employee with a temporary disability that is covered by act, so long as the accommodation does not create an undue hardship to the company. Transitional or light duty is a possibility as temporary modifications of employee member duties or temporary transfer to an open position are possibilities for accommodations.
The healthcare company fired an IT analyst within one day after she requested a leave of absence in order to seek healthcare for a recently diagnosed bidipolar disorder.
According to the EEOC, this kind of alleged conduct by an employer violates the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), which protects employees from discrimination based on their disabilities and requires employers to make reasonable accommodations to employees’ disabilities as long as it does not pose an undue hardship.
An EEOC attorney made this comment about the lawsuit, “It has always been our contention that the home healthcare company in this suit demonstrated a reckless disregard for the federally protected rights of a valuable employee, rather than carefully considering her request for leave to see her doctor.”
The $25,000 will be paid to the former employee to provide monetary relief, and the company will be required to post a notice about the settlement and provide training for managers and supervisors regarding the potential consequences of violating the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA).
