Companies Should Reasonably Accommodate Requests for Disability Leave

The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission reached a settlement in a case alleging that an IT analyst had informed her employer that she had bipolar disorder, and she requested a leave in order to see her doctor.  The company terminated the employee within one day later. The Americans with Disabilities Act prohibits discrimination against or termination of an employee because of the employee’s disability.  Terminations that occur close in proximity to a request for medical leave are often indications that a company has discriminated on the basis of an employee’s disability.  See EEOC v. AccentCare, Inc., No. 3:15-cv-03157 (N.D. Tex.).