Employer to Pay $950,000 to Settle Nationwide Disability Discrimination Lawsuit

Corizon Health Inc. and Corizon LLC have agreed to pay $950,000 to settle a lawsuit brought by the U.S. Equal Employ­ment Opportunity Commission (EEOC). The suit claimed that Corizon violated the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) by refusing to accommodate employees with disabilities who exhausted their leave under Corizon's 30-day medical leave policy and/or the Family and Medical Leave Act and terminating them. Corizon repeatedly failed to consider accommodations, including, but not limited to, reassignment, unpaid leave and modified work schedules that would have allowed employees with disabilities to return to work. Further, Corizon required employees with disabilities to be 100% healed or to be without any medical restrictions before they could return to work. Elizabeth Cadle, district director of the EEOC's Phoenix District Office, states, "Employers should understand that policies which require an employee to be 100% or without any medical restric­tions violate the ADA because they don't leave room for reasonable accommodations. Employers should also remember that leave policies must be administered consistent with the need to provide reasonable accommodations to qualified individuals with disabilities."