EEOC Sues Nursing Home, Says It Should Have Accommodated Ill Worker by Shorter Workday

An employee recovering from a heart attack ought to be granted a reasonable accommodation of a shorter workday, unless an undue hardship would result, the EEOC said in an Americans With Disabilities Act lawsuit it filed this week against the operators of an Albuquerque, New Mexico residential nursing home.

According to the lawsuit against Paloma Blanca Health and Rehabilitation, employee Doug Johnson has diabetes and heart conditions. Johnson requested to work eight-hour days instead of longer ones as a reasonable accommodation. Instead, the EEOC said, the company fired Johnson–while he was on approved leave and recovering from a heart attack–because of his disabilities and/or because he requested accommodation for them.

That’s an ADA violation, the EEOC charged, as the request for the 8-hour day was “certainly” in the category of possible reasonable accommodations that an employer has a legal obligation to consider.

Here’s the EEOC’s announcement of the lawsuit.

This post was highlighted in the March 21 weekly round up for the Ohio Employer’s Law Blog