Worker was fired after telling boss about panic attack and PTSD medication, feds say
A home warranty dispatcher said she confided in her supervisor about a panic attack, and how she was prescribed a new medication for her anxiety and post-traumatic stress disorder.
That disclosure got her fired, according to federal authorities.
The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission filed a disability discrimination lawsuit against Illinois-based Pivotal Home Solutions in September 2021, according to court records.
Now the home warranty company has agreed to settle the lawsuit, according to an Oct. 13 news release.
In settling, Pivotal will pay the former employee $175,000, authorities said.
“The EEOC found during its pre-suit investigation of this charge that the employee was terminated because of her disability, in violation of the (Americans with Disabilities Act),” Julianne Bowman, district director of EEOC’s Chicago office, said in a statement.
The defense attorney representing Pivotal Home Solutions, headquartered in Naperville, did not immediately respond to a request for comment from McClatchy News on Oct. 13.
‘Succeeded in her role’
The employee began working with Pivotal in July 2017 through a staffing firm, according to the complaint filed in the Northern District of Illinois. Her placement with the company “was open-ended and not set to last for a particular term.”
In January 2018, while still working with Pivotal, prosecutors said she qualified as someone with a disability under the ADA. She was diagnosed with PTSD and anxiety.
On Jan. 23, 2018, she told her boss about her panic attack and new medication, according to the lawsuit.
The next day, prosecutors said her supervisor contacted the staffing company and he “instructed them to end her assignment because (she) had a ‘nervous breakdown.’”
“In two of the phone calls, documented by representatives of the staffing company, the supervisor indicated that the employee had no performance issues but that he wanted to separate her anyway because he believed that the environment was too stressful for her,” authorities said.
The staffing company told the supervisor of the risk in firing an employee over a medical condition that does not affect work performance, but he insisted in ending her assignment, according to the lawsuit.
The worker was then terminated.
“Hiring employees through a staffing company is not a blank check to discriminate against them because of their disability,” Bowman said in a statement. “The ADA protects employees hired through staffing companies just as it protects permanent employees.”
During the employee’s time with Pivotal, authorities said “she succeeded in her role, received no negative performance evaluations, and was told that she would likely be hired to work directly for Pivotal instead of through the staffing agency.”
As part of a three-year consent decree, Pivotal will be required to update policies to prohibit discrimination and provide annual training to managers and all human resources employees, according to the news release. The company is also forbidden from discriminating and retaliating against any worker due to disabilities.
“Individuals with mental health impairments often face unfair stereotypes in the workplace. They are treated as fragile or incapable regardless of how successfully they have fulfilled their role,” Gregory Gochanour, the regional attorney of EEOC’s Chicago office, said in the release. “In this case, Pivotal punished a good employee for doing nothing other than informing her supervisor about her condition.
“This resolution helped bring some justice to this employee and will likely lead Pivotal and other employers to follow the law and respect the rights of their employees with impairments, including their temporary employees,” he continued.
Tractor Supply Co. manager made it known worker had HIV before she was fired, feds say
He had a heart attack at work, then the New York security firm fired him, feds say
Hobby Lobby wouldn’t let Kansas worker use service dog, then fired her, feds say
