Company News

BLOOMINGTON, Minn., October 20, 2011 — Verizon Communications in July agreed to pay $20 million to settle a disability discrimination lawsuit filed by the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission.

The EEOC charged that Verizon violated the federal Americans With Disabilities Act by disciplining or firing employees who built up absences under a no-fault attendance policy rather than making exceptions for those with disabilities.

The lawsuit stemmed from charges filed in 2006 by two Maryland employees and expanded into a lawsuit involving hundreds of employees at 24 subsidiary operations across the country.

Policies, return-to-work
Observers say the Verizon settlement demonstrates to employers the importance of having attendance policies that include paid and unpaid leave as a reasonable accommodation for employees with disabilities.

The case also demonstrates the importance of (1) not terminating an employee following a workers' compensation claim just because he is missing time from work, and (2) having return-to-work practices that enable employees to return from medical leave even when not released to full duty.

Discrimination cases up
The Verizon settlement is the largest disability discrimination settlement in EEOC history and comes on the heels of other large disability discrimination settlements. Nationally, disability discrimination charges filed with the EEOC have risen 62 percent over the past four years, making it the fastest-growing type of discrimination charge filed by employees against employers.