Disability Discrimination Illegal

The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission settled a lawsuit against a rehabilitation and healthcare company, Senior Care Properties, Inc. after the EEOC alleged that the company forced a disabled employee to take unpaid leave and then fired her for taking the leave that it forced her to take.  The EEOC’s lawsuit alleges that Katrina Friend suffered from rheumatoid arthritis.  As a result of this disability and a delay in her ability to fill her prescription for the disability, she requested four weeks of light duty work.  Instead of granting this request for a reasonable accommodation, Harborview forced Friend to take an unpaid leave.  It did not offer any other accommodation to Friend.  Then, after obligating Friend to take this unpaid leave, Harborview fired Friend because she had exceeded the company’s maximum two-week leave policy.  This alleged conduct is a violation of the Americans with Disabilities Act, which prohibits discrimination on the basis of an employee’s disability.  See EEOC v. Senior Care Properties, Inc., No 4:17-cv-00136 (E.D.N.C.).