Largest EEOC Verdict Ever: $240 Million for Disability Discrimination

On May 1, the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) announced that an Iowa jury awarded damages totaling $240 million — the largest verdict in the federal agency’s history — in a lawsuit related to disability discrimination and severe abuse.

he lawsuit filed by the EEOC against Hill County Farms, doing business as Henry’s Turkey Service, alleged that the company subjected a group of 32 men with intellectual disabilities to severe abuse and discrimination for a period between 2007 and 2009, after 20 years of similar mistreatment.

The jury agreed and awarded each of the men $2 million in punitive damages and $5.5 million in compensatory damages. This verdict follows a 2012 order from the district court judge that Henry’s Turkey pay the men $1.3 million for unlawful disability-based wage discrimination — making the total judgment $241.3 million.

The affected men lived in Iowa, where they worked for 20 years as part of a contract between Henry’s Turkey and West Liberty Foods, an Iowa turkey processing plant. At trial, the EEOC presented evidence that the owners and staffers of Henry’s Turkey subjected the workers to abusive verbal and physical harassment for years and years; restricted their freedom of movement; and imposed other harsh terms and conditions of employment such as requiring them to live in deplorable and sub-standard living conditions and failing to provide adequate medical care when needed.

The EEOC alleged that Henry’s Turkey exploited the workers, whose jobs involved eviscerating turkeys, because their intellectual disabilities made them particularly vulnerable and unaware of the extent to which their legal rights were being denied.

Such abuse violated the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), which prohibits discrimination on the basis of disability, including intellectual disabilities, in terms and conditions of employment and wages and bars disability-based harassment. The EEOC filed its lawsuit after attempting to settle the case through its conciliation process.

Protecting vulnerable workers from disparate pay, harassment and other discriminatory policies is one of the priorities identified in the EEOC’s Strategic Enforcement Plan.

Equal Employment Opportunity Commission

HRCalifornia’s HR Library offers extensive information on federal and state laws that protect employees with disabilities.

EEOC Sues Toys “R” Us for Discrimination Against a Deaf Applicant

The federal Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) recently sued Toys “R” Us, Inc. for allegedly failing to provide an interpreter to a deaf applicant during an interview.

The EEOC claims that the applicant, who communicates through American Sign Language, reading lips and the written word, applied for a team member position at a Maryland store. The applicant was contacted for a group interview, and her mother advised the company that her daughter was deaf and needed an interpreter.

According to the EEOC charge, the company told the mother that if the applicant wanted to attend the interview she would have to provide her own interpreter. The mother ended up attending the interview with her daughter and acting as her interpreter, but the daughter was not hired for the position.

The EEOC alleges that the failure to provide an interpreter violates the Americans with Disabilities Act, which requires that employers provide reasonable accommodations to employees and applicants with disabilities unless it would cause an undue hardship.

“Federal law requires employers to provide a reasonable accommodation during the interview process, including providing an American Sign Language interpreter, unless the employer can show it would be a significant difficulty or expense to do so,” said EEOC District Director Spencer Lewis, Jr., in a statement. “Given the size and resources of Toys “R” Us, it is difficult to understand how it would have been an undue hardship for such a large retailer to provide an interpreter when asked to so."

“It’s not only bad business to forgo hiring a qualified employee simply because of fears, biases or stereotypes against people with disabilities, it’s also a violation of the law,” said EEOC Regional Attorney Debra Lawrence.

Gail Cecchettini Whaley, CalChamber Employment Law Counsel/Content

HRCalifornia subscribers can read more about Reasonable Accommodation in the HR Library.

Positive Changes for Employers on Americans with Disabilities Act in 2013

California employers can expect some positive changes in 2013. The latest CalChamber News segment highlights SB 1186, a bill designed to protect business owners from predatory or frivolous lawsuits under the Americans with Disability Act (ADA).

The law is the bipartisan product authored by Democrat Senate President Pro Tem Darrell Steinberg and recently termed-out Republican Senator Bob Dutton.

California has 40 percent of the nation’s ADA lawsuits but only 12 percent of the country’s disabled population. SB 1186 will provide much needed relief.

Visit CalChamber News for full video coverage. 

Just Added: Intensive Seminar on Amended PDL and Disability Discrimination Regulations

Separate pregnancy disability leave (PDL) and disability discrimination regulations took effect on December 30, 2012.

Even if you’ve reviewed the significant changes, you probably have compliance questions:

• How do you apply the new laws to your workplace situations? 
• What’s now considered reasonable accommodation?
• How should you handle pregnancy leave requests? 

CalChamber’s half-day, live seminar on Friday, February 15, in Sacramento covers the amended regulations in detail, and their impact on employers and employees.

Special guest presenter Jennifer Brown Shaw, founding partner of Shaw Valenza LLP and innovative trainer on employment law topics, joins CalChamber employment law experts Erika Frank and Susan Kemp for an interactive, enlightening discussion.

Learn regulation specifics and pointers, and get the guidance you need as new rules in these challenging compliance areas are applied to the most common HR scenarios.

Seminar: Guidelines for New PDL and Disability Discrimination Rules
Date: Friday, February 15, 2013
Time: 8:30 a.m. — 12:00 p.m.
Where: Sacramento
Cost: $189 Nonmembers; $151.20 Preferred/Executive Members

 

Update: Amended Disability Regulations Approved

On December 26, 2012, the Office of Administrative Law approved the Fair Employment and Housing Commission’s disability regulations. The regulations become effective on December 30, 2012.

The text of the regulations is identical to the version adopted by the FEHC on December 18, 2012. A copy of the approved disability regulations can be found here.

The changes to the disability regulations include:

• An expansion of the definitions of “mental” and “physical” disability 
• Clarification of what evidence might be used to show that a particular function is “essential” to a job 
• A description of the interactive process and obligations of both the employer and the employee or job applicant 
• A description of what constitutes a reasonable accommodation and specific examples, including a discussion of when a leave of absence might be an appropriate accommodation 

The amendments to the disability regulations are separate from the recently approved amended pregnancy regulations. The amended PDL regulations also take effect on December 30, 2012.

Keep your eye on HRCalifornia, which will be updated at the first of the year with an expanded discussion of these regulations.

Gail Cecchettini Whaley, CalChamber Employment Law Editor/Staff Counsel

CalChamber customers can get an expanded discussion of the disability regulations and the pregnancy disability leave regulations and their impact on state law in the 2013 California Labor Law Digest.

CalChamber’s employment law experts held a webinar discussing the disability regulations, the pregnancy disability leave regulations and the regulations’ impact on employers. The on-demand version of this webinar is now available.