If you have an inflexible leave policy, such as a cap on the amount of leave an employee with a disability can take before having to return to work, then expect the EEOC to take you to court over it.
The latest evidence of this was today’s announcement by the commission that it has settled an Americans With Disabilities Act lawsuit against Doumak, Inc., a longtime Chicago-area marshmallow manufacturer, by getting it to alter its leave policies.
According to the commission’s lawsuit, the company had capped the duration of leaves of absence at its Elk Grove Village and Bensenville, Ill., manufacturing facilities, without making appropriate exceptions for people with disabilities.
That’s an ADA violation because it does not allow an exception to leave policies to allow an individual with a disability to successfully return to work and perform his or her job.
As part of the settlement, the company and the union with which it bargained for the leave policies agreed not to enforce the provisions of their collective bargaining agreements in any manner that would deny a qualified individual with a disability additional leave when it is needed as a reasonable accommodation. The defendants also agreed to negotiate to amend the relevant provisions of the collective bargaining agreements.
Finally, the company will pay a total of $85,000 to five individuals who the EEOC said were affected by the prior policies, and it will conduct training about the ADA for current employees.
Here’s more on the lawsuit and settlement.
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