Michigan home health care provider ordered to pay $65,000 in workers’ compensation lawsuit

Alternate Solutions Health Network, LLC, and its affiliated entity Beaumont ASHN, LLC, (collectively ASHN), providers of home health care services, will pay $65,000 and provide other compensation to resolve a disability discrimination lawsuit brought by the U.S. Equal Opportunity Commission (EEOC), the federal agency announced.

According to the EEOC lawsuit, a former employee who worked as a home-based occupational therapist suffered a grand mal seizure and was later diagnosed with a brain tumor and a seizure disorder. The former employee requested the ability to use a taxi service to provide transportation to patients’ homes. ASHN denied her request and subsequently fired her, the EEOC said.

The alleged conduct violated the American Disabilities Act, which prohibits discrimination on the basis of disability. The EEOC filed suit (Case No. 2:23-cv-13043 in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan) after first attempting to reach a pre-trial settlement through the mediation process.

Under the two-and-a-half-year agreement resolving the lawsuit, ASHN will pay $65,000 in damages to the former employee, train human resources and management employees in compliance with the ADA, develop a reasonable accommodation policy with examples of possible accommodations, and file annual reports on requests for reasonable accommodations.

Source: EEOC

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Michigan Lawsuits