Potential employee denied work because of disability

By Staff reports

The Rolla Daily News

The Missouri Department of Labor’s Missouri Commission on Human Rights (MCHR) announced that Laclede Cab Company in St. Louis has been ordered to pay $85,000 in damages for not hiring a taxi driver because of his disability.

The Complainant applied for a job with the taxi company but was sent away after disclosing that he had previously had a stroke. Even though the Complainant had been driving taxi cabs for several years after his stroke, the employer told him that it did not think its insurance company would cover him.

The case was heard by the state’s Administrative Hearing Commission and the decision and order was approved by a panel of three commissioners with the MCHR.

Assistant Attorney General Vanessa Howard Ellis represented MCHR at the hearing. This case only went to hearing after MCHR attempted to reach a voluntary settlement with the company.

MCHR ordered the company to pay $50,000 in actual damages and $35,000 for violating the Complainant’s civil rights. MCHR also ordered the company to cease and desist from practicing this unlawful discrimination.

EEOC sues Walgreen for disability discrimination in diabetic worker firing

SAN FRANCISCO—The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity is suing Walgreen Co., alleging disability discrimination for firing a worker with diabetes who ate a snack sold at the store because she was suffering from low blood sugar.

The EEOC, which filed the lawsuit Thursday, said Josefina Hernandez, a cashier at a South San Francisco, Calif., store operated by Deerfield, Ill.-based Walgreen, had worked for the company almost 18 years with no disciplinary record, and the drugstore chain knew of her diabetes.

However, she was fired in 2008 after Walgreen was informed she had eaten a $1.39 bag of chips because her blood sugar was low, even though she paid for the snack when she came off cashier duty.

The lawsuit, filed in San Francisco federal court, seeks monetary damages, including back pay, compensation for emotional distress and punitive damages, as well as measures to prevent future discrimination by Walgreen. The EEOC said it filed suit after first trying to reach a voluntary settlement.

(full story HERE)

Ten Employment Myths: Information about the Americans with Disabilities Act

Many employers misunderstand the Americans with Disabilities Act and are reluctant to hire people with disabilities because of unfounded myths. This seventeen-minute video responds to concerns expressed by employers, explaining the ADA in common sense terms and dispelling myths about this often overlooked pool of well-qualified employees.

Dial Up (Modem & ISDN) QuickTime: Open Captions | Audio Description Real: Open Captions | Audio Description High Speed Internet (DSL/Cable) QuickTime: Open Captions | Audio Description Real:Open Captions | Audio Description

Monica Yant Kinney: A reverse twist on medical insurance

Jimmy Curran should celebrate.

The 22-year-old Montgomery County native graduated from Temple University's honors program with a finance degree in May and parlayed experience at prestigious internships - on Wall Street and Capitol Hill - into a job offer at Independence Blue Cross.

Last week, Curran and a pal found an apartment in a Center City high-rise. On Monday, he starts work as a market research analyst for the insurer, remarkable given how many smart and savvy grads remain sidelined by the economy.

So what ails this young corporate climber? The gnawing feeling that he's about to be punished for doing exactly what he was told.

(read full story HERE)

September 11, 2011|By Monica Yant Kinney, Inquirer Columnist

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At Park Towne Place, Jimmy Curran checks out an apartment with his sister, Adrian. With…