Children's Hospital and Research Center in Oakland, Calif., is facing a lawsuit from the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, alleging the hospital's termination of an office associate with breast cancer violated federal laws.
According to the suit, Children's Hospital refused the employee's request for additional medical leave following her cancer diagnosis and unlawfully discharged her shortly thereafter. The EEOC alleges accommodating the employee "would not have imposed undue hardship" on the medical center, and therefore not doing so was a violation of the Americans with Disabilities Act.
"Firing employees with disabilities just because they may need more medical leave than dictated by company policy violates federal law. The law requires employers to engage in an interactive process to determine what accommodations would be reasonable under the circumstances. The EEOC's investigation showed that Children's Hospital failed to do that; now it must face the consequences," said EEOC San Francisco Regional Attorney William R. Tamayo in a news release.
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