U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission
Press Release 2-5-2010
235 Former Employees Terminated at End of Workers’ Compensation Leaves of Absence to Share Settlement Proceeds After Participating in Claims Process
CHICAGO – The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) today announced court approval of the distribution of a $6,200,000 compensation fund in the landmark Americans With Disabilities Act (ADA) litigation between the EEOC and Sears, Roebuck & Co. The distribution is being carried out pursuant to the terms of a consent decree approved by Federal District Judge Wayne Anderson on September 29, 2009. In its lawsuit against Sears, the EEOC had alleged that Sears maintained an inflexible workers’ compensation leave exhaustion policy and terminated employees instead of providing them with reasonable accommodations for their disabilities, in violation of the ADA. The case resulted in the largest ADA settlement in a single lawsuit in EEOC history.
Under the terms of the decree, the EEOC provided claim forms to certain Sears employees who had been terminated under Sears’ workers’ compensation leave policy. The claimants were asked to report to the EEOC, among other things, the extent of their impairments, their ability to return to work at Sears, and whether Sears had made any attempt to return them to work. Based on these criteria, the EEOC found that 235 individuals were eligible to share in the settlement. The average award was approximately $26,300. More than twenty claimants were found to be ineligible by the EEOC. As with all EEOC litigation, none of the settlement fund will retained by the EEOC; all of it will be distributed.
“It is a satisfying day indeed when victims finally receive compensation for the wrongful discrimination they have endured,” said EEOC Acting Chairman Stuart J. Ishimaru. “The EEOC is pleased and proud that we fought long and hard on this case to protect the rights of workers with disabilities, and that many Sears employees will now benefit from our law enforcement efforts.”
Chicago Regional Attorney John Hendrickson said, “The Sears case has been a long haul, but now it’s over—this is it. The court has enjoined future discrimination by Sears and approved the amount of money each class member will receive for the particular discrimination he or she suffered. Their day for compensation is here, and as far as the EEOC is concerned, that makes it a good day for everyone involved.”
EEOC Trial Attorney Aaron DeCamp noted that, in addition to the disbursement of settlement funds, the EEOC is seeing positive effects from the consent decree. “As a result of the decree, we believe Sears has an improved workers’ compensation leave process, and it has posted notices regarding the decree. We know that employees have been seeing the notices because we’ve been receiving inquiries as a result. So we think it’s pretty clear that our lawsuit genuinely benefited the employees of Sears and strengthened the company’s human resources processes.”
The lawsuit, filed in November 2004, was assigned to Federal District Court Judge Wayne Anderson of the Northern District of Illinois and Magistrate Judge Susan Cox, and is captioned EEOC v. Sears Roebuck & Co., N.D. Ill. No. 04 C 7282. Judge Anderson entered the order approving the monetary distributions on February 4.
The EEOC litigation team included, in addition to Hendrickson and DeCamp, Supervisory Trial Attorney Gregory Gochanour and Trial Attorneys Ethan Cohen, Deborah Hamilton and Laurie Elkin.
The EEOC Chicago District Office is responsible for processing charges of discrimination, administrative enforcement, and the conduct of agency litigation in Illinois, Wisconsin, Minnesota, Iowa, and North and South Dakota, with Area Offices in Milwaukee and Minneapolis.
The EEOC enforces federal laws prohibiting employment discrimination. Further information about the EEOC is available on the agency’s web site at www.eeoc.gov.
Showing posts with label Workers Compensation. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Workers Compensation. Show all posts
Monday, February 15, 2010
Monday, October 5, 2009
SEARS, ROEBUCK TO PAY $6.2 MILLION FOR DISABILITY BIAS
The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission
PRESS RELEASE
9-29-09
Federal Court Approves Largest Monetary Amount Ever in Single EEOC ADA Suit; Employees Allegedly Terminated Based on Inflexible Workers' Compensation Leave Exhaustion Policy
CHICAGO - The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) today announced the entry of a record-setting consent decree resolving a class lawsuit against Sears, Roebuck and Co. (Sears) under the Americans With Disabilities Act (ADA) for $6.2 million and significant remedial relief.
The consent decree, approved this morning by Federal District Judge Wayne Andersen, represents the largest ADA settlement in a single lawsuit in EEOC history. The EEOC's suit alleged that Sears maintained an inflexible workers' compensation leave exhaustion policy and terminated employees instead of providing them with reasonable accommodations for their disabilities, in violation of the ADA.
"The facts of this case showed that, nearly twenty years after the enactment of the ADA, the rights of individuals with disabilities are still in jeopardy," said Commission Acting Chairman Stuart J. Ishimaru. "At the same time, this record settlement sends the strongest possible message that the EEOC will use its enforcement authority boldly to protect those rights and advance equal employment opportunities for individuals with disabilities."
EEOC Chicago District Director John Rowe, who supervised the agency's administrative investigation preceding the lawsuit, said that the case arose from a charge of discrimination filed with the EEOC by a former Sears service technician, John Bava. According to Rowe, Bava was injured on the job, took workers' compensation leave, and, although remaining disabled by the injuries, repeatedly attempted to return to work. Sears, Rowe said, "Could never see its way clear to provide Bava with a reasonable accommodation which would have put him back to work and, instead, fired him when his leave expired."
Regional Attorney John Hendrickson of the EEOC Chicago District Office said pre-trial discovery in the lawsuit revealed that hundreds of other employees who had taken workers' compensation leave were also terminated by Sears without seriously considering reasonable accommodations to return them to work while they were on leave, or seriously considering whether a brief extension of their leave would make their return possible.
"The era of employers being able to inflexibly and universally apply a leave limits policy without seriously considering the reasonable accommodation requirements of the ADA are over," Hendrickson said. "Just as it is a truism that never having to come to work is manifestly not a reasonable accommodation, it is also true that inflexible leave policies which ignore reasonable accommodations making it possible to get employees back on the job cannot survive under federal law. Today's consent decree is a bright line marker of that reality."
In addition to providing monetary relief, the three-year consent decree includes an injunction against violation of the ADA and retaliation. It requires, in addition, that Sears will amend its workers' compensation leave policy, provide written reports to the EEOC detailing its workers’ compensation practices' compliance with the ADA, train its employees regarding the ADA, and post a notice of the decree at all Sears locations.
According to Greg Gochanour, EEOC supervisory trial attorney in Chicago, "This is not merely a garden variety so-called 'cost of litigation' settlement. We discovered well over a hundred former employees who wanted to return to work with an accommodation, but were terminated by Sears - and some of them found it out when their discount cards were rejected while shopping at Sears. We believe Sears' decision to accept this decree makes good sense."
The lawsuit, filed in November 2004, was assigned to Federal District Court Judge Wayne Andersen of the Northern District of Illinois and Magistrate Judge Susan Cox, and is captioned EEOC v. Sears Roebuck & Co., N.D. Ill. No. 04 C 7282. Today's decree is dated September 29, 2009. The court will hold a final hearing, currently slated for approximately February 2010, at which time the court will make a final determination as to the fairness of the individual distributions from the $6.2 million settlement fund.
The EEOC litigation team has included, in addition to Hendrickson and Gochanour, Chicago trial attorneys Aaron DeCamp, Ethan Cohen, Deborah Hamilton and Laurie Elkin.
The EEOC enforces federal laws prohibiting discrimination in employment. Further information about the Commission is available on its web site at www.eeoc.gov.
PRESS RELEASE
9-29-09
Federal Court Approves Largest Monetary Amount Ever in Single EEOC ADA Suit; Employees Allegedly Terminated Based on Inflexible Workers' Compensation Leave Exhaustion Policy
CHICAGO - The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) today announced the entry of a record-setting consent decree resolving a class lawsuit against Sears, Roebuck and Co. (Sears) under the Americans With Disabilities Act (ADA) for $6.2 million and significant remedial relief.
The consent decree, approved this morning by Federal District Judge Wayne Andersen, represents the largest ADA settlement in a single lawsuit in EEOC history. The EEOC's suit alleged that Sears maintained an inflexible workers' compensation leave exhaustion policy and terminated employees instead of providing them with reasonable accommodations for their disabilities, in violation of the ADA.
"The facts of this case showed that, nearly twenty years after the enactment of the ADA, the rights of individuals with disabilities are still in jeopardy," said Commission Acting Chairman Stuart J. Ishimaru. "At the same time, this record settlement sends the strongest possible message that the EEOC will use its enforcement authority boldly to protect those rights and advance equal employment opportunities for individuals with disabilities."
EEOC Chicago District Director John Rowe, who supervised the agency's administrative investigation preceding the lawsuit, said that the case arose from a charge of discrimination filed with the EEOC by a former Sears service technician, John Bava. According to Rowe, Bava was injured on the job, took workers' compensation leave, and, although remaining disabled by the injuries, repeatedly attempted to return to work. Sears, Rowe said, "Could never see its way clear to provide Bava with a reasonable accommodation which would have put him back to work and, instead, fired him when his leave expired."
Regional Attorney John Hendrickson of the EEOC Chicago District Office said pre-trial discovery in the lawsuit revealed that hundreds of other employees who had taken workers' compensation leave were also terminated by Sears without seriously considering reasonable accommodations to return them to work while they were on leave, or seriously considering whether a brief extension of their leave would make their return possible.
"The era of employers being able to inflexibly and universally apply a leave limits policy without seriously considering the reasonable accommodation requirements of the ADA are over," Hendrickson said. "Just as it is a truism that never having to come to work is manifestly not a reasonable accommodation, it is also true that inflexible leave policies which ignore reasonable accommodations making it possible to get employees back on the job cannot survive under federal law. Today's consent decree is a bright line marker of that reality."
In addition to providing monetary relief, the three-year consent decree includes an injunction against violation of the ADA and retaliation. It requires, in addition, that Sears will amend its workers' compensation leave policy, provide written reports to the EEOC detailing its workers’ compensation practices' compliance with the ADA, train its employees regarding the ADA, and post a notice of the decree at all Sears locations.
According to Greg Gochanour, EEOC supervisory trial attorney in Chicago, "This is not merely a garden variety so-called 'cost of litigation' settlement. We discovered well over a hundred former employees who wanted to return to work with an accommodation, but were terminated by Sears - and some of them found it out when their discount cards were rejected while shopping at Sears. We believe Sears' decision to accept this decree makes good sense."
The lawsuit, filed in November 2004, was assigned to Federal District Court Judge Wayne Andersen of the Northern District of Illinois and Magistrate Judge Susan Cox, and is captioned EEOC v. Sears Roebuck & Co., N.D. Ill. No. 04 C 7282. Today's decree is dated September 29, 2009. The court will hold a final hearing, currently slated for approximately February 2010, at which time the court will make a final determination as to the fairness of the individual distributions from the $6.2 million settlement fund.
The EEOC litigation team has included, in addition to Hendrickson and Gochanour, Chicago trial attorneys Aaron DeCamp, Ethan Cohen, Deborah Hamilton and Laurie Elkin.
The EEOC enforces federal laws prohibiting discrimination in employment. Further information about the Commission is available on its web site at www.eeoc.gov.
Monday, February 18, 2008
Register for New AAAA Webinar: "Navigating the Cross-Currents: ADA/FMLA/Workers Compensation."
Register for New AAAA Webinar: "Navigating the Cross-Currents: ADA/FMLA/Workers Compensation."
AAAA is pleased to announce the second of the 2008 bimonthly webinar series scheduled for March 25, 2008 from 2:00 p.m. to 3:00 p.m. EST. The subject of this one-hour webinar is "Navigating the Cross-Currents: ADA/FMLA/Workers Compensation." The presenter for th is webinar is Robert Gregg, Esq., of the Boardman Law Firm, Madison, Wisconsin. Mr. Gregg is a popular member of the AAAA Professional Development and Training Institute faculty and teaches EEO Law and other subjects. For a detailed description and to register for the March 25th webinar, go to: http://www.regonline.com/Checkin.asp?EventId=186637.For more information, contact aaaapdti@gmail.com.
AAAA is pleased to announce the second of the 2008 bimonthly webinar series scheduled for March 25, 2008 from 2:00 p.m. to 3:00 p.m. EST. The subject of this one-hour webinar is "Navigating the Cross-Currents: ADA/FMLA/Workers Compensation." The presenter for th is webinar is Robert Gregg, Esq., of the Boardman Law Firm, Madison, Wisconsin. Mr. Gregg is a popular member of the AAAA Professional Development and Training Institute faculty and teaches EEO Law and other subjects. For a detailed description and to register for the March 25th webinar, go to: http://www.regonline.com/Checkin.asp?EventId=186637.For more information, contact aaaapdti@gmail.com.
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