MEDICAL HEALTH GROUP TO PAY $125,000 FOR DISABILITY BIAS AGAINST WORKER WITH CANCER

EEOC Said Employer Fired Woman Battling Breast Cancer When She Attempted to Return to Work

BALTIMORE -- A White Marsh, Md., medical practice will pay for $125,000  and furnish significant remedial relief to settle a disability discrimination  lawsuit filed by the U.S. Equal Employ­ment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), the  agency announced today. The EEOC had  charged that Medical Health Group, Inc., refused to return an employee to work  who had recovered from breast cancer surgery.

According  to the EEOC’s suit (Civil Action No. 1:09-cv-00803-WDQ), filed in U.S District  Court for the District of Maryland, Medical Health Group violated the Americans  With Disabil­ities Act (ADA) when it discriminated against Barbara Metzger by  firing her when she had attempted to return to work after recovering from  serious surgical complications. Metzger  had been employed as a referral clerk for the practice for nearly 25 years; the  practice was acquired by Medical Health Group in 2002. She was diagnosed with breast cancer in  January 2007.

About one  week before her approved medical leave ended, Metzger was called into work on  May 31, 2007. She told her employer the  she intended to work without interruption while undergoing her remaining  chemotherapy sessions and radiation therapy for her cancer. The practice administrator then cited  examples of people she knew whose cancer treatments made them too sick to  work. At the meeting, Metzger was  presented with a termination letter that stated she was being fired because she  was “currently unable to return to work on a full-time basis. Due to the seriousness of her illness, and  extended nature of the treatment required . . . we must exercise our option to  permanently fill your position.”

The ADA prohibits employers  from making employment decisions based on assumptions and misinformation about  a person’s medical condition. The EEOC  filed suit after first attempting to reach a voluntary settlement.

“A woman  who is bravely battling breast cancer has enough of a challenge without having  to lose her job because of unlawful discrimination,” said EEOC Acting Chairman  Stuart J. Ishimaru. “The EEOC will stand  up for the victims of this sort of bias.”

The settle­ment, which represents almost  the complete monetary recovery allowed under the ADA,  also requires Medical Health Group to provide two hours of training on employer  ADA com­pliance  to its practice administrator one hour of such training to all of its officers,  supervisors and managers. The employer  will modify its anti-discrimination policies, distribute the new policy to all  employees and managerial staff, and post a notice confirming its commitment to  comply with the ADA.Additionally, Medical Health Group resolved  a Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) claim brought by attorney Kathleen Cahill  on Metzger’s behalf.

EEOC Acting  Regional Attorney Debra M. Lawrence said, “We are pleased that Medical Health  Group has agreed to expeditiously resolve the case by entering into this  consent decree and by providing very substantial monetary relief to Mrs.  Metzger – and agreeing to other terms that will help protect employees from  disability discrimination.”

EEOC Senior  Trial Attorney Maria Morocco added, “This case should remind employers of their  legal responsibility to women working with breast cancer. Employment decisions  cannot be made based on fears and stereotypes about a person’s medical  condition.”

The EEOC has issued a compliance  assistance document on cancer in the workplace.  The publication explains how the ADA might apply to job  applicants and employees who have or had cancer. The document is available on the EEOC’s web site  at http://www.eeoc.gov/facts/cancer.html.
In  Fiscal Year 2008, workplace discrimination charge filings with the EEOC  nationwide increased 15 percent to an unprecedented level of 95,402. The EEOC received 19,453 charges of disability dis­crim­ination  in that year.

The  EEOC enforces federal laws prohibiting employment discrimination.Further information about the Commission is  available on its web site at www.eeoc.gov.