Mississippi Disability Discrimination Lawsuit

Failing to make reasonable accommodations for the physical limitations of a qualified individual with a disability or terminating an individual because of that disability violates the Americans With Disabilities Act (”ADA”), and the U. S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (”EEOC”) is a federal agency which enforces federal laws prohibiting employment discrimination, including disability discrimination.  In an October 9, 2009 EEOC Oxford, Mississippi Press Release, the federal agency announced that a casino operating in Robinsonville, Mississippi will pay $75,000.00 and furnish other relief to resolve a disability discrimination lawsuit filed by EEOC attorneys in Mississippi.  According to the EEOC Press Release at http://www.eeoc.gov/press/10-9-09b.html , EEOC attorneys charged in the discrimination lawsuit that the company denied one of its dealers a reasonable accommodation for her physical limitations which were sustained as a result of an auto accident.  In this regard, the EEOC said that the employee was perfectly capable of doing her job, but needed to sit while doing so.  As stated in the Press Release, the company fired the employee instead of making that accommodation.  An attorney with the EEOC’s Memphis District Office was quoted as saying that “This case emphasizes the necessity of employers training their decision makers about the rights their employees have under the [ADA].”  Further information about the EEOC and the federal laws it enforces may be found in the agency’s website at www.eeoc.gov .