The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) recently filed a disability discrimination lawsuit in Georgia federal court. This case represents the first COVID-19 pandemic-related lawsuit the EEOC has filed about a remote work request for an American with Disabilities Act (ADA) accommodation.
According to the suit, a Denmark-based workplace experience and facility management company with a U.S. headquarters unlawfully denied its employee’s reasonable request for an accommodation for her disability. After requiring employees to work remotely four days per week from March to June 2020, the facility reopened. At that time, the employee requested an accommodation to continue working remotely two days per week and take frequent breaks while working on-site due to a pulmonary condition that causes difficulty breathing. Although the company allowed other employees in similar positions to work from home, it denied her request and, shortly after, fired her, according to the EEOC.