The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) has sued a Houston-based staffing firm over allegations of workplace disability discrimination.
Swift Technical Services LLC, doing business as Airswift, a Houston-based staffing firm focused on the oil and gas industry, violated federal law when it refused to accommodate an employee with a disability who worked in a liquid natural gas facility in Gregory, Texas, according to the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC).
According to the EEOC’s lawsuit, at the start of his employment, the building superintendent told his employer that he had thyroid and prostate cancer in remission. The prescription medication he was taking could cause false positives for illegal substances on a drug test. He explained that he takes prescription medication to treat gastroesophageal reflux disease, which was a side effect of his cancer treatment.
The EEOC’s lawsuit asserts that when the building superintendent later failed a urinalysis drug test, he requested reasonable accommodation using either a blood or hair sample. Rather than allow this accommodation in testing, however, Airswift fired him.
Such alleged conduct violates the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), which prohibits employers from making employment decisions based on an individual’s need for reasonable accommodation and requires them to make such accommodations absent undue hardship.
The EEOC filed suit, Civil Action No. 2:20-cv-231 in U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Texas, Corpus Christi Division, after first attempting to reach a pre-litigation settlement through its conciliation process.
In this case, the EEOC seeks back pay, compensatory, punitive damages, and injunctive relief, including an order barring Airswift from engaging in discriminatory treatment in the future.
