Building Materials Manufacturing and McLane Foodservice agreed to pay a total of more than $100,000 to settle disability discrimination lawsuits brought by the US Equal Employment Opportunity Commission.
Wayne, N.J.-based Building Materials had been charged with unlawfully terminating a disabled worker from its Savannah, Ga., facility when it refused to allow him to exercise his seniority rights to “bump” or replace less senior employees in a layoff, the agency said in a press release July 27.
The worker, Irvin Carter, lost his right hand in an accident at the facility nine years earlier.
According to the EEOC, the roofing materials maker refused to permit Carter to bump based on an 11-pound lifting restriction in his original medical evaluation. At the time of the layoff, Carter’s lifting restriction had been increased to 90 pounds.
Building Materials agreed to pay $62,500 and must provide equal employment opportunity training, reporting and postings.
McLane Foodservice, based in Carrollton, Texas, agreed to pay $40,000 to settle a claim it had refused to hire an applicant because it regarded him as disabled and the applicant had a record of heatstroke and renal failure, the EEOC said.
The alleged conduct in each case violates the Americans with Disabilities Act. The EEOC said it brought suit after first seeking a pre-litigation settlement through its conciliation process.
