A jury in Peoria returned a $600,000 verdict against a Macomb, Illinois AutoZone for failing to provide reasonable accommodations to a disabled sales manager. The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunities Commission (EEOC) announced its victory in a press release adding that another claim for $115,000 in back pay is still pending.
In its lawsuit, the EEOC charged the AutoZone with violating the Americans With Disabilities Act (ADA) by requiring a disabled sales manager to perform cleaning tasks that violated his medical restrictions. The sales manager suffered from permanent back and neck impairments and could not perform certain duties like mopping. The sales manager had requested that these duties be reassigned, but Macomb AutoZone refused and required that the sales manager perform these duties anyway. As a result, the sales manager aggravated his injuries and had to take additional leave.
Generally, the ADA requires that employers make reasonable accommodations to the known limitations of employees with disabilities. A reasonable accommodation can include the elimination or modification of a non-essential job duty, or the reassignment of a non-essential job duty to another employee.
In its case, the EEOC was able to show that mopping floors was not an essential job duty for a sales manager and that those duties could have been reassigned. The EEOC was also able to show that the manager was otherwise able to perform all of the essential duties of the job.
An EEOC attorney said, "The jury sent an important message today. Employers should take requests for accommodations seriously, and make every reasonable effort to enable qualified individuals with disabilities to do their jobs and earn a living."
The EEOC's $600,000 victory against the Macomb AutoZone should send a message to all employers to listen to their disabled employee's requests for accommodation and to make reasonable efforts to accommodate these employees such as by modifying job duties or reassigning duties.
Related Resources:
- Find a Chicago Discrimination Attorney (FindLaw)
- The ADA: Your Employment Rights as an Individual With a Disability (FindLaw)
- How does an employer know if an applicant or employee needs a reasonable accommodation? (FindLaw)
- EEOC Scores Disability Settlement With Sears (FindLaw's Chicago Employment Law Blog)
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