UPS Inc. has entered into a consent decree with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, resolving claims of disability discrimination.
The EEOC brought this UPS disability discrimination lawsuit in 2009 as a challenge to the company’s rigid medical leave policy, which allegedly resulted in employees being fired because of disabilities.
UPS maintained an absolute 12-month limit on medical leaves of absence. After that time, an employee taking such leave was to be “administratively separated from employment.”
The EEOC, plaintiff-intervenor Trudi Momsen, and charging party Mavis Luvert argued that this leave policy would result in the termination of employees with disabilities instead of providing them with the reasonable accommodations required under the ADA. They argued the leave program tended to unlawfully screen out disabled employees based on criteria that are not job-related or consistent with business necessity.
Under terms of this ADA consent decree, UPS will pay $1,571,250 to about 70 claimants who were allegedly affected by the UPS medical leave policy at issue.
Each claimant’s settlement amount has been determined by the EEOC based on a list of factors such as the extent of their disability, whether their UPS employment was full- or part-time, and whether UPS allowed them to return to work in a position consistent with their work abilities.
As plaintiff-intervenor, Momsen will receive an award of $100,000. Luvert will receive $47,250 as the charging party.
UPS is also required to implement policies and procedures that give employees the opportunity to request reasonable accommodations for their disabilities, to be documented by new recordkeeping requirements.
The consent decree imposes an injunction on UPS barring the company from discriminating on the basis of disability against non-union employees on a medical leave of absence who have requested an accommodation and who have returned the ADA packet provided by UPS.
Employees who make such requests are further protected from retaliatory action by UPS for opposing any practice as unlawful under the ADA, requesting an ADA reasonable accommodation, or filing a charge of discrimination under the ADA.
For the next three years, UPS must make semi-annual reports to the EEOC concerning the company’s efforts to comply with this consent decree. Higher-level human resources and occupational health supervisors will be required to undergo training on ADA requirements and UPS’ procedures for complying with them.
Claimants eligible for payment from the UPS consent decree have been determined by the EEOC, which will notify them by mail with the amount of their payment and a release form. To receive payment, claimants must sign and return the release form to EEOC.
The list of eligible claimants has been filed with the court under seal.
Top Class Actions will post updates to this class action settlement as they become available. For the latest updates, keep checking TopClassActions.com or sign up for our free newsletter. You can also receive notifications when this article is updated by using your free Top Class Actions account and clicking the “Follow Article” button at the top of the post.
The EEOC is represented by attorneys Gregory Cochanour, Diane S. Mason, Jeanne Szromba, Brad Fiorito, Laura Feldman, James L. Lee and Gwendolyn Young Reams.
The UPS Disability Discrimination Class Action Lawsuit is Equal Employment Opportunity Commission and Trudi Momsen v. United Parcel Service Inc., Case No. 1:09-cv-05291, in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois.
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9 thoughts on$1.7M Deal Resolves UPS Disability Discrimination Class Action
I was told not to apply for the ada by human resources and told i had 6 months to be eligible for retirement go out on short term then retire, when my doctor said i could go back to work ups said they would not accommodate me…the accommodation i asked for was to work a 8 to 10 hr day instead of 14 to 16 hr ups said no…after a few weeks i was denied short term and had to pay back money i recieved i did retire early but with no medical coverage i did sue and recieved some of the disabilty money 3 years after….
I have had 4 knee surgeries, lower back fusion, and future surgery for foot and shoulder. Still needing a total left knee upcoming after I try and make it to the end.
I’m in constant pain and was out for three years for my back surgery. They tried to retire me early for pennies but can’t refuse my job to me so, I decided to tough it out to get retirement. This job is not for the disabled but it seams that this company does not want or care about their employees anymore. All about their top dollar.
I would like to know if I have any recourse for my everyday disability and would like all my years that I was out go towards my pension. Disabled employees is the very norm now and will be always.
My daughter is a current UPS employee. She is 34, has cancer and is 7 mos pregnant. She was forced to return to work in this condition, while undergoing chemo or lose her AETNA disability (through her employer) and medical insurance. She is currently still working due to this and will deliver in October 2017. Please let me know if she is eligible.
UPS has been doing this for years. Funny thing is when I was fired in 1993, over disability discrimination. The NY Human Right Commission made UPS change there employee handbook world wide as they lied and hid there Long Term Disability plan. Shows government, fines nothing stops them from discriminating against people with disabilities Look at all the lawsuits since 1993, basically same type of class actions over and over Very sad. To top that the government allowed UPS to out right screw disabled people through the company with changing Insurance company and all disabled people at that time lost there Life Insurance even though I have paperwork stating that if anything happened they would have to buy me out of policy. All lies went to government pension and welfare board they replied past the statute of limitations. So they didn’t notify anyone and waiting the 3 years and then there safe. Now the government is going to bury me, however they do that. Very stupid to let corporate America get over on it’s people and then have the responsibility on the American people. If you have money like UPS they will always break the rules and generally get away with it.
I tore my rotator cuff and ruptured disk in my neck, was told i could no longer ever work for ups again – They never fixed my neck and now i have problems every day.
I actually received a permanent neck injury after the strike and they sent me back to work in unsafe conditions and a load stand slid out from underneath me. I was on disability and then was told that there wasn’t a light to medium duty position was not available.
I too was affected by leave of disability and returned to work too soon
Add me please
Yes I worked for UPS and that happen to me too. I also worked a lot of overtime that I didn’t get paid for.