Employers Settle Suits Over Refusals to Extend Medical Leave
September 10, 2018
The federal Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) has announced the settlement of unrelated lawsuits against two employers for violating the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) when they allegedly refused to extend additional leave to employees who had undergone medical treatments. The employers allegedly violated the ADA when they refused to extend employees' unpaid 30-day leave of absence because doing so would violate the employers' respective maximum medical leave policies. As part of the settlements, the employers were required to pay $90,000 and $50,000 (respectively), hire an outside EEO consultant to revise its current policies to include a comprehensive reasonable accommodation policy, and to conduct effective training on the ADA for all employees. Before denying a request for leave as an accommodation of a disability, we recommend all employers contact SESCO to ensure compliance with the ADA.
