Staffing Companies Resolve Federal Lawsuit Charging That They Discriminated Against an Employee Perceived as DisabledATLANTA – C.W. Inc. (doing business as CPG Staffing) and Executive Personnel Group, LLC, sister staffing companies that assign employees to construction industry clients, agreed to pay $60,000 and furnish other relief to settle a U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) disability discrimination lawsuit, the federal agency announced today.
The EEOC suit alleged that CPG Staffing and Executive Personnel rescinded a welding applicant’s job offer after learning from a post-offer medical questionnaire that he had injured his knee on a job two years earlier. Before disclosing the prior injury, from which he had completely recovered, the applicant successfully passed a welding test. The welding test involved climbing ladders and crouching and crawling on beams. The applicant indicated he could perform the essential duties of the welder job, did not require a reasonable accommodation, and provided a letter from his physician clearing him to work. Yet, Executive Personnel’s risk manager instructed CPG Staffing not to hire the applicant because of his prior injury. CPG Staffing, in turn, rescinded the applicant’s job offer.
Such alleged conduct violated the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), which prohibits disability discrimination. The EEOC filed suit (EEOC v. C.W., Inc. and Executive Personnel Group, LLC), Case No. 2:24-cv-00138-LGW-BWC) in U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Georgia, Brunswick Division, after first attempting to reach a pre-litigation settlement through its administrative conciliation process.
In addition to the $60,000 in monetary relief, the two-year decree settling the suit requires CPG Staffing and Executive Personnel Group to provide their employees with specialized training on the ADA’s prohibition against disability discrimination. The companies are also required to remove a question about prior work-related injuries from their post-offer medical questionnaire and to add ADA anti-discrimination language to the questionnaire. Additionally, the decree requires the companies to post a notice that sets forth the general requirements of the ADA at each of their facilities.
“The ADA prohibits discrimination against an applicant because of a disability, whether it is actual or perceived,” said Marcus G. Keegan, regional attorney for the EEOC’s Atlanta District Office. “The EEOC is pleased that CPG and Executive Personnel will take substantial measures to ensure their commitment to evaluating applicants and employees based on demonstrated ability rather than unfounded assumptions about actual or perceived disabilities.”
Darrell E. Graham, district director of the EEOC’s Atlanta District Office, said, “Employees have a right to be evaluated based on their ability to perform the essential functions of their job rather than their medical conditions or injuries. The EEOC is committed to enforcing the ADA to protect the rights of applicants with disabilities, actual or perceived.”
For more information on disability discrimination, please visit https://www.eeoc.gov/disability-discrimination.
