EEOC Sues American Airlines for Disability Discrimination

Federal lawsuit says airline refused to provide accommodation for blind employee, then fired her

FORT WORTH, Texas — American Airlines, Inc., a domestic and international air carrier headquartered in Fort Worth, violated federal law when it refused to provide a reasonable accommodation for a blind reservations representative and then fired her, the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) charged in a lawsuit filed today.

According to the lawsuit, American failed to provide a reasonable accommodation to an employee after she developed cortical blindness. The employee requested use of screen reader software to convert text and other information on computers into synthesized speech, which would have allowed her to use the company’s computer systems to perform her job duties. Alternatively, the employee also requested to be transferred to another position, the suit said.

Instead of taking legally required steps to enable the employee to use the screen reader software for her job or to help her find another reasonable accommodation for her disability, the lawsuit charged American with keeping her on unpaid, involuntary leave for almost four years and then firing her after failing to facilitate her return to work.

“The Americans with Disabilities Act mandates that employers must act diligently, in cooperative dialogue with disabled workers, to identify and provide reasonable accommodations for those workers’ known disabilities, absent undue hardship,” said EEOC Acting Dallas Regional Attorney Ronald L. Phillips. “Employers violate their workers’ civil rights when they fail to provide required reasonable accommodations or unreasonably delay providing such accommodations, and the EEOC will hold such employers accountable.”

Read more on the original article : https://www.eeoc.gov/newsroom/eeoc-sues-american-airlines-disability-discrimination