Perceived Disability Discrimination is Illegal

The EEOC recently settled a lawsuit that it had brought alleging that a company doing defense contract work terminated an employee by forcing him to resign because of his disability.  The EEOC’s lawsuit claimed that one of the company’s engineers, who had worked there since 2008, suffered two depressive episodes, causing him to take a medical leave of absence.  The employee’s doctor later released him to return to work, but the company forced the engineer to take a “fitness-for-duty” exam.  The employee passed the exam and the psychologist administering the exam concluded that he could return to work.  Despite this, the company told the employee that it was terminating his employment and that he could either resign or be fired.  The alleged conduct is a violation of the Americans with Disabilities Act, which prohibits discrimination against employees because of their disability.  See EEOC v. L-3 Communications Integrated Systems, No. 3:17-cv-00538 (N.D. Tex.).