EEOC Sues ATT for Disability Discrimination

U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission
PRESS RELEASE
3-29-12

Employee With Hepatitis C Fired for Taking Approved Disability Leave, Federal Agency Charges

INDIANAPOLIS -- The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) today filed suit against AT&T Corp., a leader in telecommunication services, for failing to reasonably accommodate a long-term employee’s disability and then firing her because of that disability.

According to the EEOC’s suit, Lupe Cardona, who worked for AT&T Corp. as a customer service representative in Indianapolis from 1984, requested a reasonable accommodation in the form of a finite leave of absence in order to receive interferon treatment for Hepatitis C. Without the treatment, her disease could have eventually been fatal. Upon learning of Cardona’s disability and need for a leave of absence, AT&T granted her leave request. Thus, Cardona was on an approved, paid medical leave of absence from June 24 to Oct. 24, 2010, when her physician determined the treatment was successful and released her to return to work without restriction. Two days later, AT&T fired her, claiming her use of approved leave to receive life-saving treatment violated its attendance policy. AT&T refused to provide Cardona a reasonable accommodation by exempting her leave of absence from its no-fault attendance policy.

Such alleged conduct violates the Americans With Disabilities Act (ADA). The EEOC filed suit after first attempting to reach a pre-litigation settlement through its conciliation process. The EEOC filed its lawsuit in U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Indiana (EEOC v. AT&T Corp., Civil Case No.: 1:12-cv-0402-TWP-DKL) after first attempting to reach a pre-litigation settlement through its conciliation process. The EEOC’s lawsuit seeksback pay, compensatory and punitive damages and reinstatement or front pay for Cardona as well as injunctive relief, including a court order prohibiting AT&T from failing to provide reasonable accommodation to disabled employees by counting absences caused by their disability as “chargeable,” or unprotected, absences under its attendance policy.

“The refusal of AT&T to make a perfectly reasonable exception to its draconian attendance policy to accommodate the known disability of an employee violated federal law as well as common sense and common decency,” said EEOC trial attorney Patrick Holman.

Barbara A. Seely, regional attorney of the EEOC’s St. Louis District Office, added, “This employer’s conduct is precisely what Congress had in mind when enacting the ADA. The very essence of reasonable accommodation is making exceptions to hard-and-fast rules in circumstances like this when to do so causes no undue hardship to the employer – and failing to do so might cause grave harm. AT&T’s actions here were not only baffling, but downright cruel.”

The EEOC is responsible for enforcing federal laws against employment discrimination. Further information is available at www.eeoc.gov.

http://www.eeoc.gov/eeoc/newsroom/release/3-29-12a.cfm

AT&T Sued By EEOC In Puerto Rico Disability Discrimination Lawsuit

The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission

October 6, 2011

Press Release

Company Refused to Consider Accommodations for Technician Gone Blind From Diabetes, Federal Agency Charged

MIAMI – A company in Puerto Rico now owned by telecommunications giant AT&T violated federal law when it refused to reasonably accommodate a longtime employee after he went blind from a disability, the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) charged in a lawsuit it filed last week.
According to the EEOC’s suit, Miguel Melendez started working for Centennial in November 2001, when he was 20 years old. As a switch technician, he monitored and maintained data, telephone and cellular servers for the wireless provider. Melendez suffers from diabetic retinopathy, which caused him to lose vision in both eyes in November 2008. The accommodation he requested would have permitted him to continue working as a switch technician by utilizing computer software that allows blind persons to use computer programs and applications. The company knew that such software existed, the EEOC said. AT&T acquired Centennial de Puerto Rico in January 2010 and continued Centennial’s business operations.
The EEOC filed suit (EEOC v. AT&T, Case No. 3:11-cv-019-CCC) against AT&T in U.S. District Court for Puerto Rico, alleging in its complaint that AT&T’s failure to accommodate Melendez violated the Americans With Disabilities Act (ADA), as amended by the Americans With Disabilities Act Amendments Act of 2008 (ADAAA). The EEOC filed suit after first attempting to reach a pre-litigation settlement through its conciliation process. The agency is seeking back pay and compensatory and punitive damages for Melendez. The suit also seeks injunctive relief to prevent and correct disability discrimination, and training of AT&T’s managers and employees about equal employment opportunity laws.
“Workplace flexibility and making reasonable workplace modifications, such as the use of computer software, to keep qualified employees working, not only makes good business sense in the 21st century, it is required by federal law,” said Malcolm Medley, director of the EEOC’s Miami District Office. “The EEOC will continue to protect employees against such unlawful discrim­in­ation.”
Robert Weisberg, the EEOC’s Miami regional attorney, added, “Employers have the obligation under the ADA to reasonably accommodate disabled individuals. We will vigorously prosecute cases where it appears that employment decisions are based on myths, fears or stereotypes about a person’s ability because of his disability.”
The EEOC is responsible for enforcing federal laws against employment discrimination. The Miami District Office’s jurisdiction includes Florida, Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands. Further information is available at www.eeoc.gov.
http://www.eeoc.gov/eeoc/newsroom/release/10-6-11c.cfm