William Beaumont Hospital Sued by EEOC for Disability Discrimination

DETROIT – William Beaumont Hospital, doing business as Beaumont Health System, operators of Beaumont Hospital, located in Wayne, Michigan, failed to accommodate an employee with a disability, the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) charged in a lawsuit it filed today.

According to the EEOC’s lawsuit, Beaumont determined that the employee, a registered nurse, could not work fewer than 32 hours a week in her then-current position as an accommodation for her medical work restriction. The employee expressed interest in several jobs she believed she could have performed within her work hours restriction and asked to be placed in any of them. However, Beaumont refused to transfer her to a vacant position for which she was qualified, instead forcing her to apply and compete for openings, the EEOC said. After several months of submitting applications, the employee finally landed a position on her own.

Such alleged conduct violates the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), which requires that employers reasonably accommodate employees with disabilities and includes reassignment to vacant positions as a possible accommodation.

The EEOC filed suit (EEOC v. William Beaumont Hospital., d/b/a Beaumont Health System, Case No. 4:23-cv-11560, in U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan after first attempting to reach a pre-litigation settlement through its conciliation process. The EEOC is seeking compensatory and punitive damages for the employee, and other relief from the hospital, including a permanent injunction preventing the hospital from engaging in future disability discrimination by refusing to accommodate employees with disabilities.

“The ADA requires an employer to provide qualified employees with disabilities reasonable accommodations that will allow them to perform their essential job duties,” said EEOC Indianapolis District

Office Regional Attorney Kenneth L. Bird. “When an employee can no longer perform the essential duties of her current job, the ADA provides that reassignment to a vacant position may be a reasonable accommo­dation. The EEOC is always ready to step in to enforce disability discrimination law.”

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

The Indianapolis District Office of the EEOC oversees Indiana, Michigan, Kentucky, and parts of Ohio.

The EEOC advances opportunity in the workplace by enforcing federal laws prohibiting employment discrimination. More information is available at www.eeoc.gov. Stay connected with the latest EEOC news by subscribing to our email updates.