The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) was put into law in July of 1990. A civil rights law, the ADA bans discrimination against people with disabilities in all areas of public life, which includes employment. This law is similar to those that protect people from discrimination based on factors like race, sex, national origin, age, and religion. Under the ADA, employers with 15 or more employees have to provide reasonable accommodations for people with qualified disabilities, which just means they must provide adjustments that enable individuals to complete their job duties. Let’s take a look at some of the notable wins for people who have sought the ADA’s protection from job discrimination.
1. EEOC v. United Airlines
In this case, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) brought a federal lawsuit against United Airlines for violating the ADA with their overtime policy. Samuel Chetcuti, a storekeeper at the San Francisco International Airport, initially filed charges due to being barred from working any overtime. Chetcuti, who had epilepsy, could not operate heavy machinery or work at heights due to medical restrictions but was allowed to work overtime. However, United’s policy was to deny overtime for employees who were placed on light or limited duty, which disproportionately affected employees with disabilities, such as Chetcuti, whose disability did not prevent them from working extra hours. Ultimately, United Airlines settled and agreed to pay $850,000 to current and former employees with disabilities who were denied employment opportunities at that airport due to the policy. United also agreed to abandon the policy.
2. EEOC v. Kaufman container
This case focused on a single employee who was discriminated against based on her visual impairment by a packaging sourcing business in Cleveland, Ohio. The employer was accused of failing to provide reasonable accommodation and then terminating the employee due to her disability. In this case, the employee worked as a machine operator for years until she was diagnosed with diabetes and a complication that causes damage to the eyes, diabetic retinopathy. Her deteriorating vision made it hard for her to perform in her position, so she was given packer responsibilities, which was also difficult for her to do given her vision loss. She was given a different job, but then the position was eliminated. When her employer asked her what accommodations she would need for a packer or machine operator job, she suggested a magnifying glass that could be worn as glass. After a doctor’s note confirming her poor vision, she was terminated. In the end, the employer had to provide her $120,000 in monetary relief as well as a promise to comply with the ADA as part of a two-year consent decree.
3. EEOC v. United Parcel Service
Similar to the aforementioned case, this one focused on the failure of the employer to provide reasonable accommodation for an employee with disabilities, as well as the subsequent termination of the employee. This employee had epilepsy, bipolar disorder, and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), which made it difficult for him to remember zip codes, which he was suddenly required to do after working for UPS for about a year. He asked for extra training as well as a transfer to a position that was similar to his previous one where he would not have to sort packages by ZIP code. UPS then asked for medical information about his need for accommodation, which was provided. While UPS provided the training, they did not transfer him because they decided that he was not disabled, despite the information provided by the employee’s doctor. When the employee then made mistakes sorting packages, he was fired. A consent decree resolved the case, with UPS paying the employee $110,000.
4. EEOC v. Browning Ferris, Inc.
The employer, in this case, was a waste removal company, which was accused of discriminating against a female boom truck driver and trash compactor repair person. The company terminated her because of her disability, Crohn’s disease, which is an inflammatory bowel disorder. They refused to permit her to come back to work after a medical leave because of a belief that being exposed to waste products was exacerbating her Crohn’s disease, even though the employee’s physicians said that the two were unrelated and that she would be safe continuing to work around waste (as she had been for the past ten years). A consent decree resolved this case, as well, with the employer paying $194,000 to the employee and agreeing not to retaliate against her.
5. EEOC v. Starbucks Corp.
In this case, a barista had mental impairments, including bipolar disorder and attention deficit disorder, that did not stop her from performing her job well when she was reasonably accommodated with additional training and support. However, these accommodations were removed when a new manager was instated and as a result, the employee’s performance became poor. In response, the new manager cut her hours, disparaged her in front of customers, and ultimately fired her. When the case was settled, the employer had to expunge the employee’s file of the reviews and notes provided by the new manager, as well as pay $75,000 to her and $10,000 to the Disability Legal Rights Center. Starbucks also posted its EEO policy and a notice of the settlement in the nearby stores.
6. EEOC v. Sears, Roebuck & Co.
The EEOC in this case alleged that Sears had an inflexible workers’ compensation leave exhaustion policy and fired employees with disabilities rather than giving them reasonable accommodations. The initial plaintiff was John Bava, who was injured at work, took workers’ compensation leave, and tried to return to work despite still being disabled but was not afforded reasonable accommodation. Instead, he was fired after his leave expired. Bava, though, was far from the only one in this kind of situation with Sears. It was found that 235 people were eligible to share in the settlement, which ended up being a record-breaking amount of money for an ADA lawsuit filed by the EEOC. The total award was around $6.2 million, averaging out to around $26,300 for each person affected. Additionally, Sears had to change its workers’ compensation leave policy and train its employees about the protection afforded by the ADA, among other things.
The ADA has been able to protect many people suffering from disabilities that limit major life functions. If you think you have been discriminated against based on disability status, speak with a discrimination attorney to figure out what your options are.
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