Dive Brief:
- A Mississippi steakhouse violated the Americans with Disabilities Act when it fired an employee who had a seizure, the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity alleged in a lawsuit filed Tuesday.
- The agency alleged that Diamond Jim’s and Mrs. Donna’s Ole Farm Beef LLC terminated the plaintiff so that she could “focus more on [her] health.” The plaintiff claimed that she had informed the business of her seizure condition, which substantially limits major life activities, after her employment began in October 2022.
- EEOC claimed the restaurant fired the plaintiff the following February, shortly after it learned that she had had a seizure in January. Previously, EEOC said the plaintiff told the employer that she had not had a seizure “in years.” EEOC sought backpay and other relief for the plaintiff as well as a jury trial.
Dive Insight:
Employers violate the ADA when they terminate employees who have an actual disability or those who have a record of, or who are perceived to have, a disability. The ADA classifies the latter category of workers under the “regarded as” framework, which considers how a person is treated because of a physical or mental impairment that is not transitory and minor, according to EEOC guidance.
The commission has brought lawsuits in the past against employers that reflexively terminate employees because of a disability or perceived disability.
In one 2020 lawsuit, EEOC sued a car dealership that allegedly fired an employee after learning that she had undergone cancer tests and was hospitalized due to illness. Coincidentally, EEOC claimed in that case that the dealership told the employee it was terminating the employee so that she could “focus on her health.” Parties to the case agreed to settle in 2022.
The agency filed a similar lawsuit in 2021 against an employer for allegedly firing an employee with cancer over concerns about the employee’s health shortly after the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. The employer settled the case for $184,000.
The ADA requires employers to provide workers with disabilities a reasonable accommodation that would allow them to perform essential job functions. This is often accomplished via an interactive process combined with careful documentation, attorneys previously told HR Dive.
There are several potential reasonable accommodations for employees who have epilepsy or who experience some form of seizure disorder, according to the Job Accommodation Network. These can include having a thorough plan of action in the event that an employee experiences a seizure or similar medical emergency, implementing safeguards to aid in fall protection and providing access to tools to address potential memory loss, among other measures.