Federal Officials Sue Texas Firm for Disability Discrimination

October 7, 2015

Federal officials are suing Austin’s FEC, LLC and Austin Entertainment Center LP d/b/a Austin’s Park N Pizza, a Pflugerville, Texas-based amusement park, for violating federal law by firing an employee because of his intellectual disabilities after denying him a reasonable work accommodation.

In the lawsuit, the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) alleges an employee with mental impairments caused by traumatic brain injuries experienced as a child, worked for Austin’s for approximately four years performing maintenance and custodial work. He only experienced difficulties logging in and out of work after Austin’s implemented a new computerized timekeeping system, according to federal officials.

When the employee’s mother and legal guardian noticed he had not been paid for several months, she contacted the general manager to find out why he was not being paid. After the general manager informed her that her son was having difficulties using the time-keeping system, she requested the company consider alternative methods for keeping track of his hours. The company refused to consider such accommodations and terminated him several months later, according to the EEOC.

Such alleged conduct violates Title I of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), which prohibits employers from discriminating against qualified individuals with disabilities by failing to reasonably accommodate them.

“There was a very simple solution for keeping track of the employee’s time that was rejected by the company,” said David Rivela, EEOC senior trial attorney in the San Antonio Field Office. “Austin’s Park N Pizza made a conscious decision to terminate him instead of accommodating his disability.”

The Commission filed suit in U.S. District Court for the Western District of Texas, Austin Division (Equal Employment Opportunity Commission v. Austin’s FEC, LLC and Austin Entertainment Center, LP d/b/a Austin’s Park N Pizza, Civil Action No.1-15-cv-00873) after first attempting to reach a pre-litigation settlement through its conciliation process. The Commission seeks back pay, compensatory damages and punitive damages for the victim, as well as injunctive relief.

Source: EEOC

Topics Lawsuits Texas

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