The EEOC Files Its First Pandemic Discrimination Lawsuit Over Denial of Remote Work Accommodation
The COVID-19 pandemic has led to an explosion of remote work, including for positions traditionally not considered eligible for remote work. As employers have returned employees to office work environments, some employees who historically worked on-site have requested continued work from home as an accommodation under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). On September 7, 2021, the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) brought its first lawsuit alleging that an employer had discriminated against a disabled employee by failing to accommodate her by allowing work from home due to her increased risk of COVID-19 and by terminating her employment.
ISS Facility Services, Inc., a provider of office maintenance and management services, employed Ronisha Moncrief as a “Health Safety & Environmental Quality Manager” in one of its manufacturing facilities. The complaint alleges that Moncrief suffers from “physical impairments, including chronic obstructive lung disease and hypertension.” Around March 1, 2020, “Moncrief became sick while at work with a fever, sweats, and an uncontrollable cough”; a few days later, she was diagnosed with obstructive lung disease. Her doctor provided ISS Facility Services’ “ADA Reasonable Accommodation Request Medical Certification Form” recommending that she “work from home and take frequent breaks while working.”
