Parkinsons Disease Disability Discrimination Lawsuit

In an August 7, 2009 Press Release at http://www.eeoc.gov/press/8-7-09c.html Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (”EEOC”) attorneys announced that a media duplication company based in Salt Lake City will pay $65,000.00 to a former employee and furnish other injunctive relief in a consent decree to settle a disability discrimination lawsuit filed by the EEOC.  According to the EEOC Press Release, the disability discrimination lawsuit charged that the company failed to provide reasonable accommodations to help a sales executive continue a successful sales career as his symptoms of Parkinson’s disease worsened and he requested accommodations such as placing him closer to his assistant and providing computer equipment to ease the need for writing.  EEOC attorneys charged further in the lawsuit that rather than providing the accommodations, the media duplication company placed the former employee on a “Performance Improvement Plan” for his alleged faltering sales and the terminated him before the 90-day performance improvement period expired.  The EEOC contended that he was actually fired because of his Parkinson’s disability and in retaliation for his accommodation requests.  In this regard, discrimination based on disabilities, such as Parkinson’s disease, is a violation of the Americans With Disabilities Act of 1991, as stated in the Press Release.  An EEOC attorney quoted in the Press Release stated that “[n]o one should have to endure this kind of treatment in the workplace” when they are experiencing Parkinson’s.  Further information about the EEOC is available at www.eeoc.gov .