Innovative Services Northwest to Pay $136,500 in EEOC Disability Discrimination Lawsuit

Innovative Services Northwest (ISNW), a social services nonprofit, will pay $136,500 and furnish other relief to settle a U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) disability discrimination lawsuit, the federal agency announced today.

The lawsuit alleged ISNW failed to accommodate a former employee of its janitorial services program who sought to return to work after medical treatment for a hip impairment. After the employee made multiple requests for a reasonable accommodation, including job modifications, ISNW deemed her too high-risk to employ unless her medical provider cleared her to return at 100% capacity, forced her to take unpaid leave, and later fired her.

Such alleged conduct violates the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), which protects employees from disability discrimination and requires employers to provide employees and applicants with reasonable accommodations to effectively allow them to perform their work. After first attempting to reach a pre-litigation settlement through conciliation, the EEOC filed its lawsuit (EEOC v. Innovative Services, NW, Case No. 3:23-cv-05173) in the U.S. District Court, Western District of Washington.

In addition to providing monetary relief to the former employee, under the three-year decree ISNW will retain an equal employment opportunity consultant to review, revise and implement updated policies and procedures prohibiting disability discrimination; require management to provide reasonable accommodations to employees with disabilities; and create an anonymous internal complaint procedure. ISNW will also train managers and employees about their rights and responsibilities under federal law. Additionally, ISNW will be required to report its record of received disability discrimination complaints and accommodation requests and responses to the EEOC annually.

“It is unlawful for an employer to unilaterally place a disabled employee on unpaid leave and demand a 100% medical release before allowing that employee to return to work,” said Roberta Steele, regional attorney for the EEOC’s San Francisco District. “This decree will provide the employee with considerable monetary relief and require ISNW to take concrete steps to ensure it abides by its legal obligations under the ADA.”

Director of the EEOC’s Seattle Field Office Elizabeth M. Cannon said, “All types of employers, ranging from large corporations to smaller nonprofits, need to know federal law requires them to provide reasonable accommodations to employees and applicants with disabilities. Rather than imposing blanket return-to-work requirements, employers should engage in interactive dialogue with workers to make case-by-case determinations if essential job functions can be performed, with or without a reasonable accommodation.”

The EEOC’s San Francisco District has jurisdiction over Northern Nevada, Northern California, Washington, Alaska, Oregon, Idaho and Montana.

For more information on disability discrimination, please visit https://www.eeoc.gov/disability-discrimination.

The EEOC prevents and remedies unlawful employment discrimination and advances equal opportunity for all. More information is available at www.eeoc.gov. Stay connected with the latest EEOC news by subscribing to our email updates.