Company Fired Employee After Learning About Her Disability and Disability-Related Complaint, Federal Agency Had Charged
OXFORD – Valley Tool, Inc., a precision machine shop facility located in Water Valley, Miss., has agreed to pay $32,500 to resolve a disability discrimination lawsuit filed by the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), the agency announced today.
The EEOC’s lawsuit charged a sorter with sickle cell disease requested that Valley Tool allow her to take leave on the occasional days her blood disorder made her too ill to work. Instead, the suit alleged, Valley Tool removed the sorter from the work schedule, placed her on involuntary leave of absence, and then fired her because of her disability and in retaliation for her complaint about her super¬visor’s comments about her disability. The lawsuit also charged that Valley Tool failed to maintain medical records separate from employee personnel files.