COMPANY FAILED TO KEEP ABREAST OF THE LAW
Two Boston property management companies – Atlantic Properties Management Corp, and an affiliated entity, Diversified Funding, Inc. – are alleged to have violated federal law by refusing to reasonably accommodate a disabled employee.
Shortly after being offered a position as an executive administrative assistant, the employee was diagnosed with breast cancer. Upon notifying the company that she would need some brief time off from work so that she could receive the weekly treatments, the company withdrew its offer of employment.
Believing that such conduct violated the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) filed suit in U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts (Case No. 1:24-cv-10370), seeking monetary damages and injunctive relief.
In a written statement, Jeffrey Burstein, the EEOC’s regional attorney for the New York District Office, noted that “The EEOC has made clear in its Technical Assistance on Cancer in the Workplace and the ADA that individuals with cancer often experience discrimination in the workplace because of misperceptions about their ability to work during and after cancer treatment …. This litigation is a textbook example of how the ADA was created to protect workers at a point of deep vulnerability, and it should provide a sharp reminder to employers of the importance of refraining from stereotypical assumptions and pursuing the required interactive process.”
So much for being diversified.
# # #