Last fall, we reported on a lawsuit filed by the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) in which the employer, Gregg Orr Auto Collections, Inc., terminated an employee with cancer. The EEOC contended the firing was because the company didn’t want to pay for the employee’s health care costs. Gregg Orr Auto had a self-insured employee health care plan, making them responsible for the ongoing medical expenses of their former employee. The Texas-based company replaced the long-time, highly qualified 65-year-old employee with a worker in his mid-30s.
Violations of the ADA and the ADEA
The EEOC contends that Gregg Orr Auto violated both the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) and the Age Discrimination in Employment Act (ADEA). Under the ADEA, employers cannot base their hiring or firing decisions based on disability or the age of an employee who is over 40.
Under the ADA, employers cannot fire an employee for having a medical condition that last longer than 6 months and severely limits a major life activity. The EEOC brought a lawsuit last October against the auto company when they were unable to reach a pre-litigation settlement through their administrative process.
A resolution to the lawsuit
The EEOC announced that Gregg Orr Auto has agreed to pay $325,000 in monetary relief to the former employee as part of a settlement to resolve the lawsuit. In addition, Gregg Orr Auto will provide training for its management pertaining to age and disability discrimination to avoid future occurrences.
Birmingham District Director Bradley Anderson said, “The EEOC appreciates Greg Orr Auto’s willingness to undertake significant training to ensure workers’ rights are protected in the future.”
This case is a good reminder to businesses to make sure that your policies aren’t discriminating against older workers or disabled workers. Employers and employees can get more information on disability discrimination and age discrimination from the EEOC.
Dawn Brotherton is a Sr. Staff Writer at The American Genius with an MFA in Creative Writing from the University of Central Oklahoma. She is an experienced business writer with over 10 years of experience in SEO and content creation. Since 2017, she has earned $60K+ in grant writing for a local community center, which assists disadvantaged adults in the area.
