Home Depot Sued For Disability Discrimination

The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission recently filed a lawsuit against Home Depot alleging that the company did not accommodate and then later fired an employee due to her disability.  The lawsuit claims that Home Depot refused to provide April Stevenson with the reasonable accommodation of a short break, which was necessary because she suffers from irritable bowel syndrome and fibromyalgia.  The EEOC further alleges that the company terminated the employee after she had an emergency that was related to her disability.  A statement from the EEOC’s Chicago Director Julianne Bowman claimed that “Home Depot failed to provide her adequate means to attend to her disability, then fired her for minor policy infractions that were caused only by Home Depot’s failure to accommodate her.”  The 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. Home Depot, No. 17-cv-06990 (N.D. Ill.).