Houston Company to Pay $145K to Settle Indiana Disability Discrimination Case

Chemtrusion Inc., a Houston-based manufacturing services company, will pay $145,000 and provide other relief to settle a disability discrimination lawsuit filed by the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) and concerning the company’s plant in Jeffersonville, Ind.

According to the EEOC, the federal agency filed suit against Chemtrusion in October 2016, claiming that since 2012, the company refused to hire or provide reasonable accommodations to a class of job applicants at the Jeffersonville facility because of medical information it obtained during pre-employment medical examinations. The company failed to conduct any individualized assessment of whether they could perform essential job functions, the EEOC charged.

Such alleged conduct violates the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). The EEOC filed its lawsuit in U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Indiana, New Albany Division (EEOC v. Chemtrusion, Inc., Case No. 4:16-cv-00180) after first attempting to reach a pre-litigation settlement through its conciliation process.

The EEOC and Chemtrusion voluntarily negotiated the terms of the consent decree settling the suit, without any admission of wrongdoing or liability by Chemtrusion.

In addition to monetary relief, the decree requires that Chemtrusion: (1) instruct its hiring personnel and medical providers not to conduct medical inquiries until after a condit ional offer is made; (2) conduct individualized analysis before withdrawing job offers; (3) train its hiring personnel on what the ADA requires with respect to medical examinations and hiring; (4) submit decisions to rescind job offers to legal counsel for review; and (5) track rescinded offers. The EEOC will monitor compliance with the two-year decree.

Source: EEOC