The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit has revived a lawsuit brought by the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) on behalf of a terminated employee alleging failure to accommodate, despite the fact that the employee claimed in an unrelated matter that she was totally disabled for the purpose of receiving Social Security benefits.
In reversing a federal trial court in EEOC v. Vicksburg Healthcare, LLC d/b/a Merit Health River Region, No. 15-60764 (5th Cir. 2016), the Fifth Circuit concluded that representations made on a benefits application may be relevant to, but will not categorically bar, a subsequent ADA lawsuit.
Here, the employee filed for disability benefits when she was terminated after her employer denied her request for a two-week extension of medical leave or temporary assignment into a light duty job. The appeals court credited the EEOC’s contention that, but for the employer’s failure to accommodate, the employee would have not filed for disability benefits.
A copy of the Fifth Circuit’s decision in EEOC v. Vicksburg is available here.
Members of the Equal Employment Advisory Council (EEAC) can read more here.