DUE TO MISTREATMENT, EMPLOYEE WAS FORCED TO RETIRE EARLY
On May 4, 2023, the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) announced that it had filed a civil lawsuit against baby-formula manufacturer, Mead Johnson & Company, for disability discrimination.
Apparently, when an employee underwent foot and ankle surgery, she provided a letter from her physician which indicated that she needed a six-week post-recovery transition period (where her return-to-work hours would gradually increase). And after that transition request was denied, and when she later attempted to return from her short-term disability leave, the company informed her that her original position was no longer available and that she had 30-days to select another job or she would be terminated. While she opted for another “more physically demanding and less desirable job,” she eventually felt compelled to take an early retirement.
Since the company’s conduct was believed to be violative of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), the EEOC filed federal litigation (Case No. 1:23-cv-00454) in U.S. District Court for the Western District of Michigan, seeking back pay, compensatory and punitive damages, together with injunctive relief enjoining future discrimination.
Miles Uhlar, trial attorney for the Detroit Field Office, noted in a statement released by the agency that, “Employers must understand their obligation under the ADA to provide reasonable accommodations to employees with disabilities …. This employer easily could have accommodated this long-term employee in the job she wished to keep. By choosing not to do so, despite the availability of feasible accommodations, the company violated the ADA, and the EEOC’s job is to enforce it.”
“Hasta la vista, baby?”
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