Testing Company Revoked Employee’s Disability-Related Accommodations and Fired Her When She Questioned the Decision, Federal Agency Charges
RALEIGH, N.C. – NSN, LLC, a Virginia Corporation which provides staffing for a licensing and vocational testing center in Raleigh, North Carolina, violated federal law by failing to accommodate an employee’s disability and then retaliating against her, the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) charged in a lawsuit it filed today.
According to the EEOC’s lawsuit, the employee worked as a part-time testing center administrator in the Raleigh testing center from 2016 until she was fired on Jan. 9, 2020. The EEOC alleges that after she was hired, NSN granted her certain reasonable accommodations for a disability. The accommodations remained in place until the fall of 2019, when there was a change in supervision. The new supervisor rescinded some of the previously granted accommodations. When the employee questioned the decision, NSN disciplined her and reduced her scheduled work hours. Then, six days after the employee complained in writing that NSN’s actions were discriminatory, NSN fired the employee, the EEOC said.
Such alleged conduct violates the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). The EEOC filed suit in U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of North Carolina (Equal Employment Opportunity Commission v. NSN, LLC, Civil Action No.: 5:22-cv-00237) after first attempting to reach a pre-litigation settlement through its voluntary conciliation process. The EEOC seeks monetary relief for the employee, including compensatory and punitive damages. The EEOC also seeks injunctive relief against the company to end any ongoing discrimination based on disability and to take steps to prevent such unlawful conduct in the future.
“This employer arbitrarily revoked a reasonable workplace accommodation, and then failed to provide an employee with a reasonable alternative,” said Melinda C. Dugas, regional attorney for the EEOC’s Charlotte District. “That conduct violates the ADA. Moreover, employers who take adverse employment action against employees who exercise their rights under the ADA also violate the statute’s retaliation provisions. People with disabilities have a right to work and to assert their legal rights without fear of reprisal. The EEOC will continue to aggressively enforce this important federal law.”
The EEOC's Charlotte District Office is charged with enforcing federal employment discrimination laws in North Carolina, South Carolina and Virginia.
The EEOC advances opportunity in the workplace by enforcing federal laws prohibiting employment discrimination. More information is available at www.eeoc.gov.
