Tuesday, August 22, 2017

The 15th nominee for the “worst employer of 2017” is … the one-day leave denier


According to a lawsuit the EEOC recently filed against Macy’s, Inc., the retailer allegedly violated the ADA by firing an employee instead of granting her a one-day absence for a medical emergency.

Via the EEOC:
“What our investigation indicated,” said Julianne Bowman, the EEOC district director in Chicago who managed the federal agency’s pre-suit administrative investigation, “is that Macy’s fired its long-term employee, Letishia Moore, rather than excuse a single day’s absence she needed to address complications related to her asthma, which required emergency care. Ms. Moore had been employed by Macy’s at its State Street store for close to eight years when Macy’s fired her.” … 
Greg Gochanour, regional attorney of the EEOC’s Chicago District Office, said, “Employers have a legal duty to provide reasonable accommodations to people with disabilities that enable them to perform the essential functions of their job. Reasonable accommodations can include time off. Here, Macy’s acted unreasonably—and unlawfully—when it denied Ms. Moore a single day’s absence to address her disability-related health complications. Macy’s refusal to allow Moore’s absence prevented her from continuing to do the job she had done well for many years.”
Let me add that a lawsuit is merely a collection of unproven allegations levied by one party against another. Nevertheless, if you deny a hospitalized, asthmatic employee a one-day excused absence, then you might be the worst employer of 2017.