EMPLOYMENT DISCRIMINATION: Texas-based Employer Charged with Discrimination for Refusing a Disabled NC Applicant

September 12, 2011

Raleigh, North Carolina - A Texas-based employer was charged with discrimination after the staffing company had unlawfully refused to accommodate a disabled applicant during the hiring process and denied him employment because of his disability, a statement from the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) said in its website.

According to the EEOC lawsuit, the applicant who was identified as Sharif K. Thompson, has an end-stage renal disease and could not urinate, was denied the opportunity to take a drug test which would have enabled him to be hired. Instead, he asked the company if he could use a hair sample rather a urinalysis as an accommodation for his disability, which the company refused. He was later denied the job.

As a result the EEOC filed a suit in the federal District Court for the Eastern District of North Carolina seeking back pay and compensatory damages, as well as punitive damages and injunctive relief for the applicant.

The agency also reminded employers on their duty to work with applicants as well as employees who request reasonable accommodation.