Gaithersburg, Md.-based All Day Medical Care Clinic has settled allegations from the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission alleging that the system refused to provide ADA accommodations for a new employee, according to a Sept. 19 report from HR Dive.
The lawsuit claims that All Day fired a new scheduling assistant on her first day of work after she informed the CEO that she had a low vision disability and would require Optelec Magnification and Zoomtext software to perform her job.
According to the commission's lawsuit, All Day's CEO told the employee she "should have disclosed her disability and need for accommodation during her interview" and that "things may have turned out differently" if she had done so.
The lawsuit claims that a caseworker from the rehabilitation services department offered to pay for the accommodation software, but the CEO fired the employee instead.
All Day did not admit liability, but agreed to pay $75,000, representing $50,000 in lost wages and $25,000 in noneconomic damages.
It has also committed to share with new employees its Americans with Disabilities Act accommodation policy, designate individuals to whom such requests should be made, provide ADA compliance training to all HR and managerial staff, and post an EEOC notice informing employees of the settlement and its terms.