Illegal to Fire Employee for Taking Bipolar Medication

The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission reached a settlement of $30,000 with an operator of a Kentucky Fried Chicken franchise to resolve a disability discrimination lawsuit claiming that the company’s owner fired one of its managers in July 2015 after it discovered that she was taking medications that her doctor had prescribed to her to treat her bipolar disorder.  The EEOC alleged that the owner used obscene terms in reference to the medications and then forced the manager to flush the medications down a toilet at work.  Subsequently, the manager told the owner that she intended to continue taking her prescription medications, and the owner terminated her employment.  The alleged conduct violates the Americans with Disabilities Act, which prohibits discrimination against employees on the basis of their disability.  See EEOC v. Hester Foods, Inc., No. 3:17-cv-000340 (S.D. Ga.).