Tag Archives: ADA

A turkey processing company has been ordered by a jury to pay a whopping $240 million for paying mentally disabled workers 41 cents per hour and housing them in a rodent-infested “house of horrors.” The award will be divided evenly among 32 mentally disabled workers who worked for Henry’s Turkey Service in Atalissa, Iowa. The lawsuit alleged the company violated federal law protecting workers with disabilities and that the men were abused, harshly disciplined, including being kicked in the groin, …

From forcing inmates – even obviously mentally ill ones – to wear pink underwear, to requiring them to pay for their food, Sheriff Joe Arpaio seems to be bent on finding new ways to humiliate people who are unfortunate enough to go to prison in Maricopa County, Ariz.   ‘Pink Underwear’ Appeal The U.S. Supreme Court on March 4 refused to hear an appeal by Arpaio’s county in a case brought by the estate of an arrested schizophrenic man who …

A worker who was fired for her panic attacks won a $21.7 million jury verdict against her employer, including $16.5 million in punitive damages for the employer’s malice. April Rodriguez was a customer service rep for waste disposal company Valley Vista Services. The 34-year-old mother of four asked for time off and work accommodations to deal with her panic attacks. Instead, she was fired. She sued her employer and its parent company, Zerep Management Corp., claiming her firing was illegal …

In two recent cases, the EEOC settled with employers who had fired workers because of positive drug tests for prescription drugs. But in states where medical marijuana is legal, can employers fire employees who test positive but have prescriptions for the drug?   Drug Tests & Disability Under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), of course, employers are forbidden from discriminating against workers based on their disabilities. Nor can an employer discriminate against an employee based on its perception – …

An Ohio company has settled with EEOC for $50,000 after firing an employee who tested positive for a prescribed medication for her bipolar disorder. The agency accused the company of violating the Americans with Disabilities Act.   Adverse Reaction at Work Chassity Brady was a quality control lab technician in the Braselton, Ga. facility of Dayton Superior Corporation, a concrete and masonry construction company, according to the EEOC. After Brady had an adverse reaction at work to a drug prescribed …