Castle Hills Master Association Inc. (Castle Hill), the Texas employer of a disabled pregnant worker, failed to accommodate her time-off request for doctor-prescribed bed rest because she was ineligible for Family and Medical Leave or short-term state disability benefits. Instead, the property management company terminated her.
The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) filed court charges against Castle Hill for violation of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA).
The parties settled the case. Castle Hill is paying the pregnant worker $55,000 and will take measures to ensure employment opportunities for disabled individuals. It will also create protocols for handling reasonable accommodations for disabilities and train all employees on the protocols and ADA.
Dallas EEOC District Regional Attorney Robert A. Canino said, “It is important for employers to remember their duty to provide reasonable accommodation under the ADA, including the accommodation of leave, even when the employee does not qualify for FMLA or other employer-sponsored leave benefits.”
Take Aways:
Employers should know and follow federal and state laws on reasonable accommodation of employee disabilities and engage in an interactive process to address accommodation needs. Presuming a person with disabilities has no rights if he or she has exhausted any state or federal leave time or cannot collect state benefits can be a very expensive error.
For further information, please contact Tim Bowles, Cindy Bamforth or Helena Kobrin.
See also:
- Finale: Annual Virtual Seminar for Employers: Friday, February 28, 2025, Covering Employment Legal Essentials and New Workplace Laws (January 29, 2025)
- Accommodate, Don’t Retaliate: Superstore to Pay $75,000 for Disability Discrimination and Retaliation (August 30, 2024)
- Staffing Agency Meltdown: Discrimination Settlement Shuts Down National Firm (April 12, 2024)
Helena Kobrin
February 6, 2025