FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
May 22, 2024
EEOC Sues All Day Medical Care Clinic for Discriminating Against Employee for Not Disclosing Disability During Job Interview
Maryland Health Care Provider Terminated Employee with Vision Impairments for Requesting Reasonable Accommodation on First Day of Work
BALTIMORE – All Day Medical Care Clinic, LLC, which operates five medical clinics in Maryland, violated federal law by firing its scheduling assistant on her first day of work shortly after she requested reasonable accommodations for her visual impairments, the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) charged in a lawsuit filed today.
According to the EEOC’s lawsuit, after the scheduling assistant informed All Day Medical Care Clinic about her vision impairments and need for accommodation, the employer questioned why she did not raise these issues in her interview, and immediately terminated her. The employer ignored her later communications asking to remain employed, as well as subsequent overtures from her vocational representative to install and fund the accommodations, the EEOC said.
Such alleged conduct violates the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), which prohibits employers from soliciting information pertaining to an applicant’s disability prior to a job offer. The ADA also prohibits an employer from refusing to employ a worker who might need a reasonable accommodation in an attempt to avoid accommodating the employee’s disability. The EEOC filed suit in U.S. District Court for the District of Maryland (EEOC v. All Day Medical Care Clinic, LLC, Civil Action No. 1-24-cv-01477-JRR, after first attempting to reach a pre-litigation settlement through its conciliation process. The EEOC seeks back pay, compensatory damages, and punitive damages for the employee, and injunctive relief to remedy and prevent future discrimination based on disability.
“Under the ADA, job applicants do not need to reveal their disabilities before being hired,” said Debra Lawrence, regional attorney for the EEOC’s Philadelphia District Office. “When an employer penalizes an employee for not raising issues of disability and reasonable accommodation during the job interview, it is requiring the employee to reveal information the employee legally does not have to divulge. An employer must engage in the interactive process when an employee raises issues of reasonable accommodation.”
Rosemarie Rhodes, director of the EEOC’s Baltimore Field Office, said, “Employees should not live in fear that a request for a reasonable accommodation will result in the loss of their employment. The EEOC is committed to enforcing the ADA to protect the rights of all workers.”
For more information on disability discrimination, please visit https://www.eeoc.gov/disability-discrimination.
The lawsuit was initiated by the EEOC’s Baltimore Field Office, one of four local offices of the agency’s Philadelphia District Office. The Philadelphia District Office has jurisdiction over Maryland, Pennsylvania, West Virginia, Delaware, and portions of New Jersey and Ohio. Attorneys in the Philadelphia District Office also prosecute discrimination cases in Washington, D.C., and portions of Virginia.
The EEOC prevents and remedies unlawful employment discrimination and advances equal opportunity for all. More information is available at www.eeoc.gov. Stay connected with the latest EEOC news by subscribing to our email updates. For more information on disability discrimination, please visit https://www.eeoc.gov/disability-discrimination
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