An outpatient surgery center in Virginia has agreed to pay $50,000 and provide programmatic relief to resolve a disability and age discrimination lawsuit filed by the US Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), the federal agency announced on January 13.
The lawsuit alleges that the surgery center terminated an older radiologic technologist while she was still on approved medical leave for carpal tunnel surgery. The company then replaced her with two significantly younger and less-qualified employees. This occurred despite the employee’s request for an extension of her medical leave to recover from the surgery.
This conduct violates the Age Discrimination in Employment Act (ADEA), which protects workers aged 40 and older from discrimination based on age, and the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), which requires employers to provide reasonable accommodations for employees with disabilities, unless doing so would cause undue hardship. The EEOC filed the lawsuit after unsuccessful attempts to resolve the issue through its conciliation process.
As part of the settlement, the company will provide monetary relief to the former employee. In addition, the company must revise its ADA and ADEA policies, provide training on these policies to management, educate non-managerial employees, and report any complaints of age or disability discrimination to the EEOC over the next two years.
Mindy Weinstein, director of the EEOC’s Washington Field Office, stated, “This lawsuit demonstrates the importance of safeguarding the rights of older workers, especially when they need medical leave as a reasonable accommodation for a chronic medical condition.”
Compliance Perspective
Issue
Disability discrimination occurs when an employer or other entity covered by the ADA treats a qualified employee or applicant unfavorably because of disability. The ADA prohibits discrimination in all aspects of employment, including hiring, firing, pay, job assignments, promotions, layoffs, training, and benefits. Age discrimination involves treating an applicant or employee less favorably due to their age. The ADEA specifically protects qualified individuals who are 40 years or older. It does not protect workers under the age of 40, although some states have laws that protect younger workers from age discrimination. It is not illegal for an employer or other covered entity to favor an older worker over a younger one, even if both workers are age 40 or older. Discrimination can occur when the victim and the person who inflicted the discrimination are both over 40.
Discussion Points
- Review your policies and procedures on preventing discrimination, including disability and age discrimination. Update them as necessary to reflect current laws and best practices.
- Provide training for all staff members on what constitutes discrimination, including both disability and age discrimination. Emphasize their responsibility to report any incidents of discrimination to a supervisor, the compliance and ethics officer, or through the facility’s hotline. Train supervisors and the compliance and ethics officer on how to appropriately handle reports of discrimination, stressing the importance of nonretaliation. Ensure that training sessions are documented and that documentation of employee participation is retrievable.
- Conduct anonymous polls or surveys to assess if employees feel they are experiencing or witnessing discrimination. Ask staff if they believe they can report such incidents without fear of retaliation or retribution. Use this feedback to identify areas for improvement and ensure that the reporting process is effective and confidential.
*This news alert has been prepared by Med-Net Concepts, Inc. for informational purposes only and is not intended to provide legal advice.*