Labor & Employment Law Daily Wrap Up, EEOC NEWS—More than $142K recovered for disability, pregnancy, religious discrimination; new suits announced, (May 27, 2025)

By Jonathan Anderson

One employer allegedly told a pregnant employee that she was becoming too much of a liability after she was hospitalized with a virus.

The EEOC recovered more than $142,000 in settlements resolving claims that employers in New York, Texas, and Minnesota violated the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) and Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. In addition to providing monetary relief to affected employees, the employers agreed to make changes to their policies, procedures, and training to avoid future discrimination. The federal agency separately announced two new lawsuits; one suit alleges that a Maryland employer failed to provide an employee with reasonable accommodations for a disability, while the second suit accuses a Utah restaurant franchisee of sexual harassment.

Reasonable accommodation settlement. The owners and operators of The Ned NoMad hotel and members’ club in Manhattan will pay $100,000 to one former employee to settle an ADA disability discrimination lawsuit filed by the EEOC. The lawsuit alleged that the employer refused to accommodate an employee who provided a medical note stating that her knee condition limited her standing or walking to 30 minutes. The employee needed to use a stool only while at the host stand performing clerical work and checking guests in; she was able to perform all the essential functions of her host job, including walking guests to their destination in the hotel. The hotel refused to allow her to use a stool and terminated her employment. In addition to the monetary relief, a consent decree enjoins the employer from denying reasonable accommodations to employees with disabilities because of image or guest-preference concerns. It also requires the employer to update its employee handbook to identify the provision of a stool to a host as a possible reasonable accommodation; train its managers and employees on the provision of reasonable accommodations; and regularly report to the EEOC on its handling of accommodation requests and complaints of disability discrimination.

The EEOC filed its lawsuit in the Southern District of New York; the case is No. 1:24-cv-6487.

Pregnancy discrimination settlement. Corner Bar of Austin, Texas, will pay $42,000 and provide other equitable relief to settle a Title VII pregnancy discrimination lawsuit filed by the EEOC. The lawsuit alleged that the employer reduced a bartender’s work hours soon after she became visibly pregnant, and that her manager called her and terminated her employment when she was later hospitalized for a virus. The manager allegedly told the employee that she was becoming too much of a liability and that there was a fear that something bad was going to happen to her. Corner Bar subsequently removed the bartender from the schedule and filled her shifts with other employees, according to the complaint. In addition to monetary relief, a three-year consent decree requires Corner Bar to adopt and implement a written anti-discrimination policy, provide training to all employees, and post a notice affirming its obligations under federal employment discrimination laws. The consent decree also enjoins Corner Bar from engaging in, encouraging, or permitting unlawful conduct that discriminates against job applicants or employees because of pregnancy.

The EEOC filed its lawsuit in the Western District of Texas, Austin Division; the case is No. 1:23-cv-539.

Religious discrimination conciliation. Premiere Rehab, dba Infinity Rehab, entered into a conciliation agreement with the EEOC, which had alleged that the staffing agency engaged in an unfair discriminatory practice based on religion in violation of Title VII. During the COVID-19 pandemic, an occupational therapy assistant in Minnesota was directed to work at a third-party long-term care facility where all contracted staff within the facility were required to be vaccinated against the COVID-19 virus. Pursuant to her religious beliefs, the employee requested an accommodation so she would not have to get the vaccine. While Infinity Rehab initially asserted it intended to accommodate the employee’s request, the third-party facility’s policies ultimately precluded them from providing the employee with an accommodation and she was terminated as a result. As part of the conciliation, Infinity Rehab agreed to provide unspecified monetary relief to the affected employee and to provide training for all employees and managers.

Reasonable accommodation lawsuit. Criswell Chevrolet, Inc., a Maryland car dealership group, violated the ADA by refusing to allow an employee to have a service dog at work as a reasonable accommodation, according to a lawsuit filed by the EEOC. The lawsuit alleges that the employer summarily denied the parts department worker’s request to bring a service dog to his workplace to help control panic attacks brought on by post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) resulting from combat duty in the Iraq War. The company also allegedly refused to offer or propose alternative accommodations. The lawsuit states that the employee was forced to quit because of Criswell’s demand that he work while suffering panic attacks and without any accommodation to control or prevent them.

The EEOC filed its lawsuit in the District of Maryland; the case is No. 8:25-cv-01632-TDC.

Sexual harassment lawsuit. Franchise Management, LLC, which operates over 20 Subway sandwich shops in Utah, violated Title VII when the company failed to correct or prevent a male manager from sexually harassing and assaulting a 16-year-old male employee, according to a lawsuit filed by the EEOC. The lawsuit alleges that the district manager who oversaw several Subway locations sexually harassed the teenage worker, culminating in sexual assault. For months, the manager made sexual comments to the teenager, including asking him for pictures in his underwear, and trying to discuss sexual preferences, sexual experiences, and pornography with him. The manager also sent the teenager pictures of the manager in his underwear. The manager later sexually assaulted the teenager twice during a work shift in September 2020, the lawsuit contends.

The EEOC filed its lawsuit in the District of Utah; the case is No. 2:25-cv-000392-DBP.

Companies: The Ned NoMad; Corner Bar; Premiere Rehab; Infinity Rehab; Criswell Chevrolet, Inc.; Franchise Management, LLC; Subway

News: AgencyNews RemediesDamages Discrimination SexDiscrimination PregnancyDiscrimination DisabilityDiscrimination SexualHarassment