ATLANTA — The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) has sued a FedEx package delivery contractor for allegedly firing a driver because of his disability.
According to an EEOC news release, Lubin Logistics Company hired the driver in November 2021.
At that time, the employee told his supervisors that he suffered from lupus, an autoimmune disease that can cause pain and inflammation throughout the body. The employee successfully completed multiple training shifts as a “jumper” who delivered packages on a truck driven by another driver.
Approximately two weeks later, the employee was assigned to a Lubin Logistics truck without a working door, working heating system or functional passenger seat, the news release states.
The employee suffered a rare lupus “flare-up,” causing severe pain in his legs and feet. The employee requested and received permission to return to the delivery terminal prior to the end of his shift.
“Before his next shift, however, a company supervisor sent a text message to the employee stating that he could no longer work for them because of his medical condition,” according to the news release. “Although the employee insisted that he could continue to perform his duties or could work as a package loader, the company ignored his pleas and fired him.”
Such alleged conduct violated the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), which prohibits disability discrimination and retaliation against an employee for requesting or receiving a reasonable accommodation for their disability. The EEOC filed suit (EEOC v. Lubin Logistics Company, Case No. 1:24-cv-01911-JPB-LTW) in U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Georgia after first attempting to reach a pre-litigation settlement through its administrative conciliation process.
“The ADA prohibits the termination of an employee because of a disability, actual or perceived,” said Marcus G. Keegan, regional attorney for the EEOC’s Atlanta District Office. “Additionally, the ADA prohibits employers the termination of an employee because of their request for an accommodation related to a disability. Lubin Logistics violated both rules when it fired an employee because of his medical condition and his one-time request, when he had otherwise been capable of performing the essential functions of his job.”
Darrell Graham, district director of the Atlanta office, said, “Employees have a right to be evaluated based on their ability to perform the essential functions of their job — not based on their medical conditions or their requests for reasonable accommodations related to those conditions. The EEOC is committed to enforcing the ADA to protect the rights of employees with disabilities.”
Born in Pine Bluff, Arkansas, and raised in East Texas, John Worthen returned to his home state to attend college in 1998 and decided to make his life in The Natural State. Worthen is a 20-year veteran of the journalism industry and has covered just about every topic there is. He has a passion for writing and telling stories. He has worked as a beat reporter and bureau chief for a statewide newspaper and as managing editor of a regional newspaper in Arkansas. Additionally, Worthen has been a prolific freelance journalist for two decades, and has been published in several travel magazines and on travel websites.
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