Disability Discrimination: Health Care Worker
Carla worked as a phlebotomist in a Massachusetts hospital. She has struggled with bone tumors since childhood. Due to the many surgeries required over the years to remove tumors, she has chronic pain as a result of surgery-related nerve damage and weakness in her legs and hips.
Despite her condition, Carla performed her job at the hospital well, receiving positive reviews and commendations throughout her career. Two years into her employment, she fell and injured her hip. Treatment for that injury revealed new bone tumors, and surgery was scheduled to remove them. While awaiting her surgery, she began to experience increasing hostility from others in the workplace, who criticized her for being "too slow" and for limping. These comments also came from her supervisor, who repeatedly suggested she go on disability. Ultimately, she took FMLA leave to recover from her surgery. Upon her return, she was placed in a lower paying, part time role, which she accepted because she believed she had no choice. Several months later, she had an adverse reaction to some of her medications, and her doctor placed her on an anti-seizure medication as a precaution. The hospital, upon learning of this, immediately jumped on the opportunity to further strip her duties, telling her she could not work in the lab if there was a danger of seizures, even though she did not in fact have a seizure disorder. Her immediate supervisor even went so far as to pantomime her drawing blood and then experiencing convulsions, in an exaggerated fashion which was deeply humiliating to Carla. Carla then provided a note from her physician, clarifying the nature of her condition, and was immediately terminated. Discrimination Law SolutionCarla's situation included several forms of disability discrimination. She was not properly accommodated when she returned from her surgery. She was ridiculed for the manifestation of her disability (limping and not moving quickly). There was also the issue of perceived disability- the hospital reacted as if she had a condition- a seizure disorder- which she did not, and used that as a reason to reduce her responsibilities and compensation. Finally, her termination when she provided updated medical information appeared to be solely related to her disability.
We filed a complaint with the Massachusetts Commission Against Discrimination ("MCAD") for Carla, and participated in a mediation at MCAD in an effort to resolve her claims. We were able to negotiate a favorable settlement for Carla as a result of that mediation. |
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Postscript
Carla was a single mother who had excelled in her field despite considerable physical challenges, and took a great deal of pride in her work. The treatment she experienced at this hospital was not only financially stressful but personally devastating. We were happy to be able to provide her with compensation as well as validation for her feeling that she should not have been treated that way.
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