- Summit faces EEOC lawsuit.
- Employee sought changes for disability.
- It required full-duty medical clearance.
The employee worked at the Residence Inn Raleigh Downtown in Raleigh, North Carolina, as a houseperson and laundry attendant since 2017, according to the EEOC’s complaint. He was injured in a bus collision in March 2024 and Summit approved his medical leave and set his return date for July 1, 2024.
As return date approached, the employee gave the company a doctor’s note saying he needed changes to his duties. The note restricted him from overhead work and from lifting, pushing or pulling more than 20 pounds. The company did not work with the employee to find possible changes to his duties. Instead, the company asked for a medical note saying he was cleared for full duty and then ended his employment.
"Employers are required to provide reasonable accommodations that enable an employee with a disability to perform the essential functions of the job if it does not cause undue hardship for the employer,” said Melinda Dugas, EEOC Charlotte District regional attorney. “Engaging in an interactive process with the employee to identify reasonable accommodations is a key component of that process, and should be a good-faith, collaborative dialogue between the employer and the employee.”
The EEOC alleges that the conduct violated the Americans with Disabilities Act. The law requires employers to provide reasonable accommodations for employees with disabilities unless doing so would cause undue hardship. It also prohibits employers from ending an employee’s job because of a disability or because the employee requested an accommodation.
The case comes as hotels continue to look at ways to employ people with disabilities. A report published last year by researchers at Penn State’s School of Hospitality Management found that hiring people with intellectual and developmental disabilities could help address labor shortages and high employee turnover in the hotel industry.
