DALLAS (Legal Newsline) — The federal government has filed a lawsuit against a Texas sleep health practice for allegedly firing an employee based on her responses to a medical questionnaire.
The U.S. Equal Opportunity Employment Commission (EEOC) has filed a lawsuit against Pulmonary Specialists of Tyler and Sleep Health claiming the practice violated the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) when it required employees to fill out a medical questionnaire and then fired Angela Abler just three days after she turned in the questionnaire on which she stated she had a previous on-the-job injury resulting in back surgery and a partial disability rating.
The EEOC argues the employee's previous surgery and disability did not affect her work as a billing/collections specialist and that she was discriminated against for her record of a disability.
"Employees who are able to perform the essential functions of their job cannot be terminated just because they previously suffered limitations from a physical impairment or underwent a medical procedure that the company speculates might be disabling," EEOC supervisory trial attorney Suzanne Anderson said in a statement. "Ms. Abler was able to perform all of the work of her job as Billings and Collections Specialist at the time she was employed."