Oklahoma Company to Pay $106K in Federal Disability Discrimination Case

A Claremore, Okla.-based manufacturer of sucker rods and accessories for the oil and gas industry will pay $106,000 and furnish other relief to settle a disability discrimination lawsuit brought by the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC).

According to the EEOC’s lawsuit, Lydia Summers began working as a temporary receptionist and assisting in the accounting department. After five months, UPCO made Summers a conditional offer of full-time, permanent employment, conditioned on Summers passing a pre-employment medical exam conducted by a third-party vendor.

Following the exam, the vendor’s physician, who never examined or questioned Summers, refused to approve her for employment with UPCO because of the supposed side effects of her prescription medications. Even after Summers provided UPCO with a letter from her personal physician stating that she was not impaired by her medications, UPCO rescinded its job offer, the EEOC alleged.

Discrimination against employees or job applicants based on unsubstantiated assumptions regarding medication side effects violates the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). The EEOC filed suit in U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Oklahoma (EEOC v. UPCO, Inc., Case No. 4:16-cv-00609-CVE-TLW) after first attempting to reach a pre-litigation settlement through its conciliation process.

In addition to the monetary relief for Summers, the consent decree resolving the case requires UPCO to adopt policies that prohibit the unlawful use of employees’ and applicants’ medical information and to train its employees regarding the ADA. The decree also enjoins the company from engaging in this type of disability discrimination in the future.

Source: EEOC

Topics Oklahoma