Walmart Must Face Suit Claiming Failure to Accommodate Schedule

Discrimination

The Maine Human Rights Commission and a Walmart Stores East LP employee with an intellectual disability adequately alleged that the company unlawfully failed to reasonably accommodate his need for a modified, predictable work schedule, a district court ruled.

A reasonable jury could determine that Walmart didn’t a provide “forward-looking assurance” that Michael Morin will have the work schedule he has requested, Chief Judge Jon D. Levy of the U.S. District Court for the District of Maine said in an opinion Wednesday that denied a motion to dismiss.

It is premature to conclude

Employer Makes $1.3 Million FMLA Mistake by Firing Worker After Mexico Trip

Wrongful Termination

A recent decision from the highest court in Massachusetts emphasizes the risk to employers of taking employment actions based on outrage rather than reason—particularly when it comes to decisions about leaves of absence.

In this case, an employee sued his former employer after he was fired for taking a vacation to Mexico while he was on a medical leave of absence, and the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court upheld a $1.3 million damage award. A jury had found the company liable for retaliatory termination in violation of the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA), the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), and a state law discrimination statute.

The jury awarded the employee $19,777 in back pay and $300,000 in front pay for lost future income and benefits.