Brookdale Senior Living to Pay $25,000 to Settle EEOC Disability Discrimination Suit

EEOC INDIANAPOLIS DISTRICT OFFICE	CONTACT
Address: 101 West Ohio Street	Name:    Alessandra M. Rosa, Trial Attorney
Suite:     1900	Phone:    (463) 999-1181
City:       Indianapolis, Indiana 46204	Email:    alessandra.rosa@eeoc.gov
Phone:    (463) 999-1240

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

December 18, 2019

Brookdale Senior Living to Pay $25,000 to Settle EEOC Disability Discrimination Suit

Company Rescinded Conditional Job Offer and Refused to Accommodate an Applicant for her Drug Testing, Federal Agency Charged

 

          INDIANAPOLIS, IN – Senior living solutions giant Brookdale Senior Living, Inc. has agreed to pay $25,000 and furnish other relief to settle a disability discrimination lawsuit filed by the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), the federal agency announced today.

          According to the EEOC’s lawsuit, Brookdale offered the applicant a server position at its Brookdale Place at Fall Creek facility pending medical testing and drug screening. Due to her disability, the applicant is only able to urinate via a stoma in her abdomen, which must be catheterized using a quick catheter. Brookdale and its agents subjected the applicant to extensive and invasive questioning about her disability in front of patients, denied her request for a reasonable accommodation, failed her on her drug testing and then rescinded her job offer.

          Rejecting a qualified applicant because of a disability or failing to provide reasonable accommodations for disabled applicants violates the Americans with Disabilities Act. The EEOC filed suit (Case No. 1:19-cv-03331 in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Indiana) after first attempting to reach a voluntary settlement.

          The three-year consent decree settling the suit provides that, in addition to paying the applicant $25,000, the company will take steps toward ensuring that reasonable accommodations for applicants with disabilities are properly processed, including training for certain human resources professionals and managers and informing applicants of the process to request a reasonable accommodation for pre-employment testing, if needed.

          “Disability discrimination in hiring is a problem that must be thoroughly addressed,” said Kenneth L. Bird, Indianapolis District Office Regional Attorney. “We appreciate Brookdale’s willingness to reach an early resolution of this case and its commitment, moving forward, to improve the reasonable accommodation process for applicants with disabilities,” said EEOC Indianapolis Office Trial Attorney Alessandra Rosa.

          The Indianapolis District Office of the EEOC oversees Indiana, Michigan, Kentucky, and parts of Ohio.

           The EEOC advances opportunity in the workplace by enforcing federal law prohibiting employment discrimination. More information is available at: www.eeoc.gov. Stay connected with the latest EEOC news by subscribing to our email updates.

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