A manufacturing company has agreed to pay $250,000 to an employee who was fired after taking several weeks of time off due to his disability.
Ranew’s Management Company, Inc., headquartered out of Milner, Georgia, was ordered to pay $250,000 and implemented an “ADA policy” as part of a settlement in a lawsuit brought forth by the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission alleging unlawful disability discrimination, according to a statement from the agency.
“The ADA makes it clear that employment decisions must be made based on employee qualifications rather than on stereotypes about an employee’s disability,” said Marcus Keegan, a regional attorney for the EEOC’s Atlanta District Office.
DELIVERY SERVICE TO PAY $50,000 TO EMPLOYEE FIRED AFTER REFUSING TO WORK SUNDAY
“The EEOC is pleased the employee here has been compensated and Ranew’s Company agreed to take the necessary steps,” Keegan said.
The former employee informed the company that he had been diagnosed with severe depression and, upon the recommendation from his doctor, requested to take three weeks off from work, according to the lawsuit filed from the EEOC in December.
Upon being given permission to “take as much time” off by the CEO of Ranew’s, the employee returned six weeks later, with a “release to return to work from his doctor,” only to be let go from his job, according to the statement from the agency. “The CEO said he could not trust the employee to perform his job duties and instead fired him.”
“Such alleged conduct violated the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) which prohibits discrimination based on a disability,” the agency said.
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In addition to monetary compensation, the company also created an Americans with Disabilities Act policy and trained “executives, managers, and employees” within the company of the “obligations under the ADA” as part of an effort to ensure nothing like this happens again, according to the EEOC statement.
The Washington Examiner reached out to Ranew’s Management Company, Inc. and to the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission for a statement but did not receive a response.
