Employers May Not Fire Disabled Employees for Short Leaves Due to a Disability

The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission recently settled a lawsuit that it had filed against Cash Depot, LTD, in which the EEOC alleged that Cash Depot had failed to provide a reasonable accommodation to one of its employees who suffered from a disability.  The EEOC’s lawsuit claimed that the employee, a field service technician, had suffered from a stroke and was hospitalized.  After this, Cash Depot placed the employee on a leave of absence.  Cash Depot told the employee that it would hold his job open until a certain date.  Despite this promise, Cash Depot posted his job and hired a different field service technician to replace the employee.  When he was released by his doctor and permitted to return to work, Cash Depot fired the employee, claiming that it could not accommodate the work restriction that the employee had.  This alleged conduct is a violation of the Americans with Disabilities Act, as amended, which requires to provide reasonable accommodations to employees suffering from a disability.  Such reasonable accommodations may include holding open an employee’s job for a reasonable period of time.  See U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission v. Cash Depot, LTD, Case No. 4:20-cv-03343 (S.D. Tex.).