Shelby Baptist Medical Center to Pay $60,000 in EEOC Disability Discrimination and Retaliation Suit
Settles Federal Lawsuit Charging Hospital Failed to Accommodate Technician’s Disability and Retaliated Against Her
BIRMINGHAM, AL (STL.News) Shelby Baptist Medical Center and its operating companies will pay $60,000 and provide other injunctive relief to settle claims of disability discrimination and retaliation in a lawsuit filed by the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), the federal agency announced.
According to the lawsuit, Shelby Baptist illegally discriminated against a behavioral health technician with degenerative disc disease, which impaired her ability to perform her existing job functions. The technician requested reassignment to a vacant position for which she was qualified. Instead of accommodating her through a reassignment, the hospital denied the accommodation and fired the technician in retaliation for requesting it.
Such alleged conduct violated Title I of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), which prohibits employment discrimination based on disability and requires employers to grant reasonable accommodations to qualified employees with disabilities unless doing so would impose an undue hardship. The ADA also prohibits retaliation for engaging in protected conduct, such as requesting reasonable accommodations.
The EEOC filed suit against Shelby Baptist and its operating companies — Tenet Healthcare Corporation; Tenet Health System Medical, Inc.; Brookwood Ancillary Holdings, Inc.; Brookwood Baptist Health 2, LLC; Brookwood Center Development Corporation; and BCDC Employee Co, LLC — (EEOC v. Tenet Healthcare Corporation, et al., case no. 2:23-cv-00630-MHH) in U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Alabama after first attempting to reach a pre-litigation settlement through its administrative conciliation process.
The consent decree settling the case requires Shelby Baptist to pay the technician $60,000 in lost earnings and compensatory damages. Additionally, the two-year decree requires Shelby Baptist and the other four hospitals in the Brookwood Baptist Health system to prevent future discrimination by improving their policies and practices and training their employees on the ADA.
“Federal law guarantees workers the right to reasonable accommodations for their disabilities,” said EEOC Birmingham District Director Bradley Anderson. “The EEOC is vigilant in protecting this right and holding employers who violate it accountable.”
Marsha Rucker, regional attorney for the EEOC’s Birmingham District, said, “Along with ensuring reasonable accommodations, the ADA prohibits companies from retaliating against workers for merely requesting accommodations. When businesses retaliate against employees for asking about their rights, the EEOC will act to enforce the law.”
