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A major copper parts manufacturer will pay $85,000 and
furnish significant remedial relief to settle a federal disability
discrimination lawsuit, the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission
(EEOC) announced today. The EEOC had charged that Hussey Copper, Ltd.
unlawfully refused to hire a job applicant because of his record of a
disability and because they regarded him as disabled.
According to the EEOC’s suit, Leetsdale, Pa.-based Hussey Copper
offered Donald Teaford a job as a production laborer but later
unlawfully rescinded the job offer based on his disability. The job
offer had been conditioned on Teaford passing a physical examination. As
a result of the post-job offer examination, the company’s doctor
learned that Teaford was receiving methadone as part of a clinically
supervised chemical dependency treatment program. The company then
rescinded the job offer, mistakenly concluding that Teaford was a safety
risk due to his methadone treatments, the EEOC said. Teaford was
qualified for the position, was not experiencing adverse side effects
from the methadone treatments, and the treatment program provided the
company’s doctor with information verifying Teaford’s successful and
compliant participation in the program.
“Methadone treatment is one of the most monitored and regulated
medical treatments in the United States,” said District Director Spencer
H. Lewis, Jr. of the EEOC’s Philadelphia District Office, which
oversees Pennsylvania, Delaware, West Virginia, Maryland and parts of
New Jersey and Ohio. “This case should remind all employers that the ADA
requires employers to make individualized assessments about an
individual’s ability to do the job instead of acting out of speculative
fears or biases.”
Refusing to hire a qualified individual because of his disability,
record of disability or because the employer perceives a person as being
disabled violates the Americans With Disabilities Act (ADA). The EEOC
filed suit in U.S. District Court for the Western District of
Pennsylvania, Civil Action No. 08-809, after first attempting to reach a
pre-litigation settlement through its conciliation process.
The parties reached agreement to settle the case by consent decree
after conducting a three-day non-jury trial in federal court. In
addition to the $85,000 in monetary relief to Teaford, Hussey Copper
will hire him as a mason utility laborer. The five-year consent decree
resolving the lawsuit enjoins Hussey Copper from further engaging in any
employment practice that discriminates based on disability. The decree
mandates that Hussey Copper will revise and disseminate policies
prohibiting discrimination based on disability and must set up
procedures for promptly investigating and addressing such misconduct.
The company must also provide anti-discrimination training and post a
notice on the settlement.