Breast cancer patient forced to resign after she’s denied remote work option, feds say

A breast cancer patient undergoing radiation treatments was forced to resign from her job when her employer refused to make reasonable accommodations and subjected her to “intolerable work conditions,” according to federal authorities.

Now the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission is suing United Labor Agency — a nonprofit organization focused on workforce development — accusing it of violating the Americans with Disabilities Act.

The organization based in Cleveland, Ohio, did not immediately respond to a request for comment from McClatchy News on Feb. 16.

In the federal lawsuit filed Feb. 14, authorities said the woman had worked for United Labor Agency for nearly 10 years. During that time, she received positive feedback and never had any performance problems.

But in March 2021, while all the organization’s employees were working remotely during the COVID-19 pandemic, the woman was diagnosed with stage three invasive ductal carcinoma of the left breast, or breast cancer, according to the complaint. She was working as a recruiter at the time.

She notified her employer, authorities said, and she took both paid and unpaid medical leave from about March 2021 to Jan. 3, 2022. She underwent chemotherapy, two surgeries and radiation during that time, officials said.

In January 2022, she was cleared to return to work with intermittent leave for her radiation treatments, according to the lawsuit.

Also that month, United Labor Agency told employees they’d be required to resume working from the office starting in February 2022, authorities said.

The woman requested an exception to continue working remotely until May 2022, when she’d be finished with radiation, as she was immunosuppressed, according to the lawsuit. She provided a recommendation from her oncologist, who also offered to provide other documentation.

Her request was denied the next day with no discussion, according to the EEOC.

The woman returned on Feb. 1, 2022, authorities said, and during her time in the workplace, the organization sent out three mass emails about COVID-19 outbreaks in the office.

She was left off each of the emails, according to the lawsuit.

“After both the first and second times she learned that (the organization) had omitted her from the mass emails, (she) asked Defendant to include her,” authorities said. “Defendant continued to leave her off the mass email and offered no explanation for excluding her from these notifications.”

After being left off the third mass email, the woman resigned on March 3, according to the EEOC. Authorities said she was “fearing for her health.”

Federal authorities said United Labor Agency discriminated against the employee based on her disability, according to a Feb. 15 news release.

The EEOC said it tried to reach a settlement with the organization before filing a lawsuit, but authorities were unable to do so.

Now the federal agency is seeking back pay, damages and relief that would prevent future discrimination, according to the release.

“It is an employer’s responsibility to know its obligations under the ADA,” EEOC Philadelphia Regional Attorney Debra M. Lawrence said in the release. “This includes complying with the temporary medical restrictions of employees who are receiving ongoing treatments for serious medical conditions, unless it can demonstrate that doing so would pose an undue hardship.”

This story was originally published February 16, 2023 at 8:55 AM with the headline "Breast cancer patient forced to resign after she’s denied remote work option, feds say."