Disability Suit Settled

PROTOCALL COMMUNICATIONS, INC. TO PAY $31,000 TO SETTLE DISABILITY DISCRIMINATION LAWSUIT AT THE EEOC LEVEL

Energy Company Fired Employee Because She Has Dyslexia, Federal Agency Charged

Protocall Communications, Inc., a company that markets energy price protection in eight states, will pay $31,000 and furnish significant equitable relief to settle a federal disability discrimination lawsuit.

Protocall officials at its Laurel, Md., headquarters asked the employee with dyslexia if she had a learning disability. When she said she did, the director of human resources told her there was no point in continuing the training and denied the employee’s request to be allowed to take the script home to practice it and instead fired her, refusing to provide a reasonable accommodation to a telemarketer trainee.

Such alleged conduct violates the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), which prohibits discrimination based on disability and requires employers to provide a reasonable accommodation to individuals with disabilities.

In addition to the $31,000 in monetary relief to the employee, the two-year consent decree resolving the suit provides substantial equitable relief, including prohibiting Protocall from denying reasonable accommodations or violating the ADA. The company will distribute its policies and procedures prohibiting disability discrimination and addressing reasonable accommodations to all employees and newly-hired employees. Protocall will train all managers, supervisors and human resources personnel on the ADA and its reasonable accommodation requirements. The company will report to the EEOC on how it handled any internal complaints of discrimination. Protocall will post a notice about the settlement and post notices required by EEOC regulations.