NASHVILLE, Tenn. (Legal Newsline) – The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) announced a lawsuit Feb. 1 against Meade Place LLP, which does business as The HealthCare Center at West Meade Place, over allegations of refusing to provide reasonable accommodation to an employee with an anxiety disorder and later firing her.
According to EEOC, a laundry technician at West Meade requested leave as a reasonable accommodation for her anxiety disorder in November 2015. The EEOC claims that West Meade denied her this request on grounds that the Family and Medical Leave Act did not apply to her. Afterward, the defendants allegedly ordered the employee to obtain a doctor’s note within 36 hours that would clear her for work. According to EEOC, the employee could not produce a note so quickly. The defendants allegedly fired the employee over the matter.
Alleged conduct of this nature violates the Americans with Disabilities Act. EEOC seeks injunctive relief to ban the defendants from disability discrimination in the future. The agency also seeks back pay and compensatory and punitive damages for the alleged victim in the case.
"Management officials have a responsibility under federal law to consider all reasonable requests to accommodate employees' disabilities," said Katharine W. Kores, district director of the EEOC's Memphis District Office, in a statement. "When an employer refuses to do so, the EEOC is here to put things right."
EEOC’s Memphis District Office oversees agency operations in Arkansas, Tennessee and portions of Mississippi.