Disabled Person Harassment

Attorneys with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (”EEOC”) announced in July 7, 2009 EEOC Press Release that a hotel will pay $90,000.00 under a consent decree to resolve a disability harassment lawsuit brought by the attorneys on behalf of a dvelopmentally disabled adult.  According to the Press Release, the EEOC lawsuit charged that the hotel violated the Americans With Disabilities Act by permitting two hotel supervisors to harass the employee because of his developmental disability.  More specifically, the EEOC charged that employee was repeatedly called retarded by his supervisors and the hotel terminated the disabled employee because of his disability.  See, http://www.eeoc.gov/press/7-7-09.html .  The EEOC filed the lawsuit after an administrative investigation found reasonable cause to believe that the ADA had been filed, and after first attempting to reach a voluntary settlement through the agency’s conciliation process.  An EEOC attorney was quoted in the Press Release as saying that “The epithet directed at the employee in this case was offensive and derogatory - really, when you think about it, heartbreaking [and] there’s no room for such talk in today’s workplace - nor for putting employees on the street because of their disabilities.”  In this regard, the EEOC is a federal agency which enforces federal laws prohibiting employment discrimination.  Further information about the EEOC may be found in the agency’s website at www.eeoc.gov . 

Whether bias against developmentally challenged employees occurs in Houston, Irving, San Antonio or elsewhere, disabled victims of disability harassment may contact the EEOC and an attorney or lawyer to determine if a disability discrimination lawsuit is ultimately appropriate under the particular facts and circumstances of the potential disabled person harassment claim.