United Airlines Signs Consent Decree Awarding $850th in Disability Discrimination Suit

Holding:

United Airlines, Inc. (“UAI”) has agreed to settle a federal lawsuit instituted by the Equal Employment Opprtunity Commission (“EEOC”) alleging that the Chicago-based company’s overtime policy violated the Americans With Disabilities Act (“ADA”). According to the EEOC’s suit and settlement filed in U.S. District Court for the District of Northern California, UAI will pay $850,000 to a class of employees with disabilities and has agreed not to enforce such a policy in the future. The settlement also required UAI to notify all current and former employees at the San Francisco International Airport who were subject to the rescinded policy and invite them to submit claims to share in the $850,000.

Detailed Summary:

The suit arose from a charge filed by Samuel Chetcuti, a storekeeper working for UAI at the San Francisco International Airport. The EEOC’s suit asserted that UAI ’s policy of denying the opportunity to work overtime to anyone placed on light or limited duty had greater repercussions for employees with disabilities, since these workers were more likely to be assigned to light duty.

For example, EEOC asserted in its complaint that charging party Samuel Chetcuti, who has epilepsy, was under medical restrictions that prevented him from operating heavy machinery and working at heights, but did not restrict the number of hours…

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