Employers Need to Provide Reasonable Accommodations for Disabilities

The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission recently filed a lawsuit against a staffing agency, Remedy Intelligent Staffing, and the company where the employee was placed, Lornamead, Inc., for alleged disability discrimination.  The EEOC claims that the staffing agency and company refused to provide a reasonable accommodation to the disabled employee, that Lornamead eventually terminated the employee because of his disability, and that the staffing agency failed to place the employee at a new job.  The lawsuit alleges that Lornamead hired the employee in June 2013 through the staffing agency, and that he was diagnosed with a disability at some point during his employment.  The employee’s disability was a chronic condition that resulted in the growth of multiple cysts in his kidneys.  In June 2016, the employee ran a machine that forced him to bend and twist his body continually, which aggravated his kidney condition.  The employee requested that Lornamead provide him with a chair, but Lornamead refused to provide him with this reasonable accommodation.  The employee then provided Remedy with a doctor’s note explaining that the bending and twisting could make his condition worse.  The note also recommended that he refrain from extreme bending, twisting, and lifting, which could cause a cyst rupture.  The employee also suggested several reasonable accommodations that would permit him to perform his job duties.  Lornamead told Remedy to end his work assignment, which Remedy did.  Remedy did not place the employee at another job with a different client.  Such alleged conduct is a violation of the Americans with Disabilities Act.  See EEOC v. Lornamead, Inc., No. 1:18-cv- 00841 (W.D.N.Y.).