ADA Discrimination Charge

Frenchie

A previous employee has filed a charge with the EEO claiming we discriminated against her because her husband was ill. This was an employee who had some significant problems getting along with co-workers in her department ( a self-directed team), two of them quit because of her. We tried to work with her, even brought in a consultant to resolve the problem. It was finally decided that we needed to put a supervisor in place. There wasn't enough work to support four FT people so I told them we would have to adjust hours of team members in place. She had told the consultant that what she needed was time for herself, but that she also needed to work and needed benefits. We suggested a 33 hour workweek with two days off during the week. We amended our Health Insurance Plan and also Life Insurance Plan to cover any associates working 30 or more hours per week. The only changes that occurred due to the change in hours were that her uniform allowance went from $200 a year to $100 a year, and she only received one paid personal day a year instead of two. She claims that we purposely reduced her hours to force her to quit because of her husbands illness. My question is, does her husbands illness fall under ADA discrimination when he was not employed here?

Hatchetman

Without getting into whether or not the husband is disabled, it is against ADA (and maybe some state laws) for an employer to discriminate against an employee or applicant (disabled or non-disabled) on the basis of that person's association with an individual with a disability.

Margaret Morford

Did you have her sign something at the time she requested the reduction in hours? If not, I'd get the consultant to give you an affidavit attesting to what the employee told her about needing time off. Based on the facts you gave us, sounds like you bent over backwards to help her. Remember, anyone can file a charge saying anything.

Margaret Morford
theHRedge
615-371-8200
[email]mmorford@mleesmith.com[/email]
[url]http://www.thehredge.net[/url]

Frenchie

Thanks for responding. It will be interesting to see how this all shakes out.