Fired over a mental health stereotype? What a $100K ADA mistake looks like

As you may have heard, focusing on employees’ mental health and well-being is expected to be one of the biggest workforce trends in 2024.

That’s good advice because getting tripped up by mental health stereotypes can be an expensive mistake. Case in point:

In 2019, a general manager who worked at the Holiday Inn Express & Suites-Downtown Omaha filed a complaint with the EEOC after he was fired.

Employee discloses depression

According to the EEOC’s lawsuit, the general manager informed his supervisor that he was going to be out of work because he was going to the hospital to seek treatment for depression.

Two days later, the suit alleged, the general manager was discharged from the hospital. On that same day, the supervisor told the general manager he was being fired because the company was concerned that he might hurt others.

EEOC files ADA lawsuit

In the EEOC’s view, the alleged conduct violated the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). The agency filed a lawsuit on the general manager’s behalf after it attempted to reach a pre-litigation settlement through its conciliation process.

The EEOC’s suit asserted the company “failed to conduct an individualized assessment of the general manager’s ability to perform the essential functions of his job with or without reasonable accommodation at the time of his discharge, and instead fired him based on fears and stereotypes regarding his disability, depression.”

EEOC attorney calls out mental health stereotype

“Before an employer can fire an employee based on their disability, including a mental health disability, it must have objective evidence the employee would be unable to perform their job or would create a significant safety risk even with a reasonable accommodation,” Andrea G. Baran, regional attorney for the EEOC’s St. Louis District Office, said in a press release. “Employers cannot rely on myths or stereotypes about mental health conditions when deciding whether an individual with a mental health disability, such as depression, can perform their job or poses a safety risk.”

To resolve the lawsuit, the company agreed to:

• Pay $100,000 to the general manager
• Implement measures designed to prevent disability-based terminations
• Adopt ADA-compliant policies
• Provide training to all employees
• Provide additional recurring ADA training to owners, general managers and HR staff, and
• Undergo EEOC monitoring.

Info: Omaha Hospitality Group to Pay $100K to Resolve EEOC Disability Discrimination Lawsuit, 12/28/23.