This & That Tuesday 15.3.10
"This & That" Tuesday: Disability Discrimination
March 10, 2015
Here is the latest issue of “This & That” Tuesday. I hope you find it to be informative and useful.
Announcements
You can always check out my website for upcoming speaking engagements that are guaranteed to be of value to business owners or for a list of topics that I can speak on at Chambers, Clubs, Business Associations, etc. More details about the events, topics and Human Resources 4U, in general, can be found on my website.
Upcoming Events
March 23, 2015,
- How to Create and Conduct a Formal Discipline Discussion
- How to Build a Salary Structure & Merit Pay System
- Cal-OSHA & IIPP Basics
- AB 1825 Mandated Harassment Training for Supervisors
Mt. Sac Community College
Information at: (909) 274-4027 or workforcetraining@mtsac.edu
Riviera Consulting Co. Pays $100,000 to Settle Disability Discrimination
A San Jose-based business has agreed to pay $100,000 to a former employee fired because of his vision impairment and to implement new policies and training to settle a federal disability discrimination lawsuit filed by the EEOC.
The EEOC charged that Farhang Dahmubed was hired and then quickly fired as a senior bookkeeper at Riviera Consulting & Management Consulting, LLC within one month because of his retinitis pigmentosa, and without any interactive process to find a reasonable accommodation for newly created job duties related to driving.
According to the consent decree settling the suit, the defendants agree to pay Dahmubed and his attorneys $100,000. In addition to the monetary relief, the companies agreed to contract with an independent equal employment opportunity consultant to revise their policies and procedures on disability discrimination and the evaluation of reasonable accommodation requests; provide anti-discrimination training to all employees; and provide periodic reports to the EEOC through the duration of the three-year decree.
Professional Freezing Services Pays $80k under Consent Decree Ending Disability Discrimination
The federal district court in Chicago has entered a consent decree requiring Professional Freezing Services, LLC, a Southwest Side Chicago provider of logistical services to the refrigerated and frozen food markets, to pay $80,000 and provide other relief in order to resolve a disability discrimination lawsuit brought by the EEOC.
In its lawsuit, the EEOC charged that Professional Freezing, which operates a large refrigerated 165,000-square-foot facility, violated the Americans with Disability Act (ADA) when it refused to hire William Harvel because he had prostate cancer. A former employee later testified under oath at his deposition that he had heard company owner Edward Gryzwacz make derogatory statements about Harvel and his disability, including that he could not hire Harvel because he had cancer, and, "in a best-case scenario, would end up wearing diapers."
In addition to requiring the company to make the $80,000 payment to Harvel, the two-year consent decree enjoins the company from engaging in any practice in the future that discriminates on the basis of disability, including refusing to hire qualified individuals because their disabilities, and it bars retaliation against individuals asserting their rights under the ADA.
The decree also requires Professional Freezing to provide training to all employees, including Gryzwacz, regarding its obligations under the ADA with respect to the hiring of individuals with disabilities; to submit periodic reports to the EEOC about any complaints of disability discrimination; and to post a notice regarding the outcome of the lawsuit on its employee bulletin board for two years.
Factoids
- On average employers pay 73% of employee health premiums and 71% of family premiums (Kaiser Foundation)
- You have 63 days from the time your employment coverage ends to enroll in COBRA but only 60 days to enroll in Obamacare.
- Migraine headaches cost business $13 billion and 113 million lost days annually
The most common lies on resumes are:
- 57% Embellished skill set
- 55% Embellished responsibilities
- 42% Dates of employment
- 33% Academic degree
- Overall 58% of hiring managers say they have caught applicants in a lie
Quote of the Blog
“For every minute you are angry you lose sixty seconds of happiness.”
~Ralph Waldo Emerson~