BALTIMORE — The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) has filed a lawsuit against Stanley Black & Decker Inc., over allegations the company fired an employee with cancer because she needed medical treatment leave.
According to the EEOC, a tool company employee diagnosed with cancer told an HR representative that she needed follow-up doctor appointments and testing throughout the year. The employee was told that she had not been employed with the company long enough to be eligible for medical leave.
The EEOC alleges the employee was then fired for poor attendance even though she exceeded her sales goals and quotas. The commission says her absences were due to cancer treatments and medical testing, for which she had asked reasonable accommodation.
"Employers can run afoul of the ADA if they have a rigid attendance policy that penalizes employees taking leave as a reasonable accommodation for their disabilities," EEOC regional attorney Debra Lawrence said in a statement.
"This case should remind all employers that they have an obligation to make exceptions to 'no fault' attendance policies as a form of a reasonable accommodation unless doing so would be an undue hardship," added EEOC Philadelphia District director Jamie Williamson.
According to the EEOC lawsuit filed in U.S. District Court for the District of Maryland, Baltimore Division, Stanley Black & Decker violated the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA).