Employers Need to Make Reasonable Accommodations for Depression

The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission recently filed a lawsuit against a fabrication, coating, and assembly company, Ranew's Management, for allegedly terminating an employee due to his disability and requests for a reasonable accommodation.  The EEOC’s lawsuit claims that Ranew fired one of its employees after he had informed the company that he had been diagnosed with severe depression and asked for three weeks off of work as an accommodation for his disability.  This accommodation request for time off of work was recommended by the employee’s doctor.  The CEO of Ranew told the employee to take as much time as he needed.  The employee tried to return to work with a doctor’s release six weeks later, but the CEO told the employee that he could not trust him to perform his job duties, and he fired the employee.  The alleged conduct would be a violation of the Americans with Disabilities Act, which prohibits discrimination on the basis of a disability.  Employers are also obligated to provide reasonable accommodations to disabled employees.  See EEOC v. Ranew's Management Co., No. 5:21-cv-00443 (M.D. Ga.).