Eagle Marine Services in Louisiana Sued Over Disability Discrimination Allegations
Eagle Marine Services Electrical & Refrigeration, LLC, a marine services company based in Berwick, Louisiana, violated federal law when it refused to hire or accommodate a worker because he used medication prescribed by his doctor to treat attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (“ADHD”) the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) charged in a lawsuit.
According to the EEOC’s lawsuit, the company withdrew its offer of a marine electrician position after the worker revealed, as part of a company-ordered medical examination, that he had ADHD and took prescribed medication to treat it. Eagle Marine Services failed to make any individual assessment of the worker’s medication use or whether it would affect his ability to safely perform the marine electrician position, and instead relied on general stereotypes about disability and medication use to justify its decision not to hire him.
The alleged conduct violates the Americans with Disabilities Act, which forbids discrimination against an individual because of disability. The EEOC filed suit in U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Louisiana (Civil Action No. 22-cv-3443) after first attempting to reach a pre-litigation settlement through its conciliation process.
