Not again! Employer will pay $42K for all-too-common accommodation mistake

When it comes to accommodation of employee disabilities, you would think employers would learn from others’ mistakes.

But it just doesn’t always happen.

Here’s a case in point: A North Carolina employer has agreed to pay $42,000 and provide other relief to settle a lawsuit that accused it of unlawful disability discrimination and retaliation.

And the problem that ultimately led to the lawsuit and payout?

A new supervisor rescinded previously provided disability-related job accommodations, according to the suit.

And to make things worse, the suit claimed, the employer disciplined the employee and reduced her work hours when she questioned the decision to take away job accommodations she had received for years.

Deja vu all over again

The target of the suit, which was filed by the EEOC, was NSN, LLC. NSN is a Virginia corporation that provides staffing for a licensing and testing center that is located in Raleigh, North Carolina.

The EEOC alleged in its lawsuit that the employee on whose behalf the suit was brought worked for NSN as a part-time testing center administrator beginning sometime in 2016.

It further asserted that after the employee was hired, she was granted reasonable accommodations for a disability.

New supervisor, new problems

The road to the lawsuit began in earnest in the fall of 2019, when a new supervisor was assigned to oversee the employee. The new supervisor proceeded to rescind some of the disability-related job accommodations that had previously been provided.

The employee was not happy about the decision to take the accommodations away. But when she questioned the change, NSN allegedly disciplined her and reduced her work hours.

The employee then complained in writing that the employer’s actions were discriminatory. Six days later, NSN fired her, the EEOC said.

Suit claims ADA violations

The EEOC filed its lawsuit in June of 2022, alleging violations of the Americans with Disabilities Act.

“This employer arbitrarily revoked a reasonable workplace accommodation, and then failed to provide an employee with a reasonable alternative,” Melinda C. Dugas, regional attorney for the EEOC’s Charlotte district, said at the time.

To end the suit, NSN agreed to pay $42,000 and provide other relief. More specifically, a two-year consent decree that resolves the litigation bars NSN from discriminating against or retaliating against employees in violation of the ADA going forward.

In addition, NSN agreed to adopt and implement a new anti-discrimination, disability accommodation and non-retaliation policy. It further agreed to provide relevant training to all of its managers and employees.

Point well taken

“This case demonstrates the importance of an employer’s obligation to properly train managers on the duty to provide reasonable accommodations under the ADA,” Dugas said. “Employers must also ensure that any existing accommodations are communicated to and respected by new managers when there is a change in managerial personnel.”

That last point should be heeded by employers, especially because the scenario that allegedly played out in this case is a precise replay of many, many cases before it.

Training a new supervisor with respect to job accommodations already being afforded to new subordinates is a critical step employers must take when new supervisory responsibilities are assigned.

It is an easily avoidable and yet common misstep for new supervisors to assume their role without sufficient knowledge relating to job-related accommodations that are already being provided to employees they will be supervising.

Remember, too, that the duty to accommodate exists under federal law not just with respect to disability. For example, Title VII requires the provision of reasonable accommodation of an employee’s religious beliefs.

Don’t fall victim to this common mistake. When a new supervisor is assigned, be sure to clearly communicate to them the need to preserve existing job accommodations.