The Salvation Army, headquartered in Virginia with a facility in Lynchburg, violated federal law when it discriminated against an employee with cancer by denying her a reasonable accommodation to seek treatment and causing her to resign, according to a lawsuit by the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC).
According to the EEOC, in October 2024, a case worker with Hodgkin’s lymphoma provided The Salvation Army with a medical note stating her chemotherapy treatments would continue through February 2025 and asking for intermittent leave for the treatments and related recovery. Instead, The Salvation Army told the employee it needed to let her go and presented her with two options: resign and be eligible for reemployment when she was healthy, or be fired and no longer eligible for reemployment with The Salvation Army.
The employee, who wanted to continue her employment with The Salvation Army, was forced to resign.
“Absent undue hardship, intermittent leave can be a reasonable accommodation that allows employees to continue to perform the essential functions of the job while receiving medical treatments for a disability,” said Melinda C. Dugas, regional attorney for the EEOC.
The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) requires the accommodation of disabilities absent undue hardship, and prohibits employers from discharging an employee because of their disability or because they requested an accommodation.
The EEOC said it filed suit in U.S. District Court for the Western District of Virginia, after first attempting to reach a pre-litigation settlement with the social services provider.
Topics Lawsuits
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