CHARLOTTE, N.C. (Legal Newsline) — The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) announced May 22 that Heritage Home Group LLC will pay $50,000 after allegations of disability discrimination.
Heritage Home Group designs, manufactures, sources and retails home furnishings. It is headquartered in North Carolina.
According to the EEOC, the company violated federal law by failing to provide an accommodation to a machine operator with a disability at the company’s manufacturing plant in Hickory, North Carolina. Beyond its failure to provide accommodation, Heritage Home Group allegedly went so far as to fire the employee because of his disability.
The employee has diabetes and developed an infection requiring the amputation of one of his toes in March 2016. The employee was also diagnosed with peripheral neuropathy. He purportedly needed some additional time off so to recover fully, but Heritage Home Group denied the request and fired him instead.
"This settlement recognizes that employees with disabilities are important members of the workforce and should be provided equal opportunities to succeed in the workplace," Lynette Barnes, regional attorney of the EEOC's Charlotte District Office, said in a statement.