AGREE TO PAY $125,000 TO IMPACTED EMPLOYEE
Two national New Mexico-based “job assistance companies” have recently agreed to settle a “disability and pregnancy discrimination” suit which had been filed by the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC).
Res-Care and Equus Workforce Solutions, (hereinafter “Res-Care/Equues”), allegedly violated federal law when they terminated an employee, undergoing a high-risk pregnancy, because she had asked for a reasonable accommodation (“medical leave,” or time-off to attend medical appointments).
Believing that such conduct violated Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, and the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), the EEOC filed suit (Res-Care, Inc., d.b.a. BrightSpring Health Services, and Arbor E&T, LLC, d.b.a. Equus Workforce Solutions, Civil Action No. 1:23-cv-00856-WJ-GJF) in U.S. District Court of New Mexico, seeking monetary damages and injunctive relief.
In addition to a $125,000 payment to the impacted individual, the company has agreed to modify its employment related policies and practices, particularly as they related to the disabled.
By way of written statement, Regional Attorney Mary Jo O’Neill of the EEOC’s Phoenix District Office, noted that, ““A company’s strict enforcement of its leave policies may violate federal legal protections for pregnant workers and workers with disabilities …. Employers have a legal obligation to provide reasonable accommodations, such as additional leave or modification to existing company leave policies, to make it possible for workers with high-risk pregnancies to continue to work. While this case was brought under Title VII, which has been protecting pregnant workers for decades, it highlights the need for more education of employers as to the broader protections now afforded under the new Pregnant Workers Fairness Act.”
Clearly, those job assistance companies clearly could have used some assistance of their own ….
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