FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Jan. 24, 2018
GREEKTOWN CASINO TO PAY $140,000 TO SETTLE
EEOC DISABILITY DISCRIMINATION SUIT
Detroit
Casino Refused to Grant Extended Leave and Fired Employee with Stress-Anxiety Disorder, Federal Agency Charged
DETROIT – A Detroit casino operator
will pay $140,000 and furnish other relief to settle a disability discrimination
lawsuit brought by U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), the
agency announced today. The EEOC had
charged that Greektown Casino LLC unlawfully failed to provide a reasonable
accommodation to an employee with stress-anxiety disorder, leading to his
discharge.
According to the EEOC’s lawsuit,
the employee, a pit manager, requested an additional four weeks of extended
leave to return to work following a stress-anxiety-related collapse on the job. Greektown denied the request and
subsequently fired the employee after his leave under the Family and Medical
Leave Act of 1993 (FMLA) was exhausted.
Such alleged conduct violates the
Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), which mandates that covered employers
provide reasonable accommodations for the known disabilities of employees. The EEOC filed suit in U.S. District Court for
the Eastern District of Michigan in Detroit (Case No. 2:16-cv-13540) after
first attempting to reach a pre-litigation settlement through its conciliation
process.
As
part of the consent decree settling the suit, Greektown will pay $140,000 to
the employee, and will all train supervisory and human resources employees on the
requirements of the ADA.
“We are pleased with the relief
provided by the consent decree,” said Dale Price, the EEOC
attorney who handled the case. “It
provides meaningful protections for the employees of Greektown. With this resolution, Greektown has taken a
positive step towards protecting the rights of employees with disabilities.”
The EEOC advances opportunity in the workplace by enforcing federal laws prohibiting employment discrimination. More information is available at www.eeoc.gov.
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