U.S. Equal Employment
Opportunity Commission
PRESS RELEASE
8-1-11
Georgia Health Care Consulting Company Refused to Rehire Woman Due to Disability, Federal Agency Charged
DETROIT -- J.A. Thomas & Associates, a health care consulting company based in Smyrna, Ga., an Atlanta suburb, violated the Americans With Disabilities Act (ADA) when it refused to rehire an employee for a position she previously held because of a disability, the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) charged in a lawsuit filed today.
According to the EEOC’s suit Case No. 2:11-CV-13347, filed in U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan, the discrimination victim, a woman from Detroit who was a double amputee, was forced to resign her position with company when she was unable to relocate to Georgia due to her disability. The EEOC said the woman would have been able to perform this job from home, as she requested. After nearly six months of leaving the position unfilled, the company made the position a remote/at-home position, which was what the woman had requested to begin with. When the woman inquired about rehire into her job, she was told that the company, concerned about her disability, had hired another candidate.
The ADA protects employees and applicants for employment from discrimination due to an actual or perceived disability. The EEOC filed suit after first attempting to reach a voluntary settlement. The EEOC is seeking an injunction to prohibit the company from engaging in this type of discrimination in the future, as well as monetary relief on the behalf of the victim.
The EEOC enforces federal laws prohibiting employment discrimination. Further information about the EEOC is available on the agency’s website at www.eeoc.gov.