A senior living company based in Vancouver has been accused of discriminating against disabled workers, according to a lawsuit filed Friday in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of California.
The suit alleges Prestige Care Inc., headquartered at 7700 N.E. Parkway Drive, put companywide policies in place that demanded workers to be “100 percent healed, 100 percent fit for duty.” Those policies were inflexible for disabled workers, the lawsuit alleges.
The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, the federal agency that filed the suit, said the policies violate the Americans with Disabilities Act because Prestige would not try to compromise with its workers, who ultimately faced job loss or loss of wages.
Melissa Barrios, director of the agency’s Fresno, Calif., office, said they couldn’t disclose how many workers they will represent in the suit; however, each worker involved could receive a maximum $300,000 settlement plus potential back pay. At this stage in the lawsuit, more workers could come forward, she said.
The suit also seeks an injunction against the policies.
In a prepared statement, Prestige Care wrote that it had been working in good faith to address any concerns, but that “we strenuously disagree with the allegations brought by the EEOC in its lawsuit.”
“As employers, we are fully committed to fostering a work environment where every individual is treated with respect and dignity, and is offered the appropriate accommodations to perform their responsibilities,” Prestige Care said.
According to the complaint, Prestige and nearly 40 of its subsidiaries and affiliated companies had a policy of only accommodating on-the-job injuries. Workers who took more time off than allotted by the company leave policies, as well as state and federal leave laws, had to reapply for work, the complaint said.
The Americans with Disabilities Act, ratified in 1990, requires companies to work with disabled employees and come to agreements about things like modified job descriptions and, sometimes, additional time off.
“Any leave that was required beyond (paid time off or government-mandated leave laws) would essentially place that employee in a situation where they were likely to be terminated,” Barrios said.
Prestige Care owns and runs senior care facilities in California, Oregon, Washington, Alaska, Idaho, Montana, Nevada and Arizona. Ultimately, the suit alleges the policies were put in place by the Vancouver-based management team.
Management “routinely approved … decisions that violated the ADA,” the complaint said. Written policies reportedly stipulated that employees had to perform “100 percent of job duties. Prestige does not provide light duty except in the case of an on-the-job injury.”
As a result, workers with disabilities said they were often denied changes to lighten their job duties or take extended leave, even if they had a doctor’s note.
Another policy reportedly told employees that if their medical leaves went beyond those afforded by state and federal leave laws and the company leave, they would have to reapply for an open job.
Some people were refused jobs if they were perceived to be disabled, the complaint said.
Complaints
The complaint details several instances of workers being fired after suffering injuries that required extended leaves of absence.
A 73-year-old dietary aide who was told she needed to lift 50 pounds was fired after taking medical leave for back pain, the complaint said.
Another dietary aide, who was HIV positive, said he asked to swap shifts so he could go to the doctor but was denied. He later resigned after missing eight months of appointments. The complaint said he eventually collapsed and spent a month in the hospital.
In another case, a pregnant attendant tripped and was crushed by a heavy nursing home resident whom she had been trying to move into a wheelchair, the complaint said. She was granted kitchen duty but still experiences numbness in her arms, trouble breathing and back pain.
She was allegedly told to “figure it out” and that the job was “what she signed on for.”
An emergency room doctor eventually told the pregnant attendant to take two weeks off, according to the complaint. The day before she was set to return, she got another doctor’s note for more time off. Her bosses, however, told her she would miss scheduled work and she was fired. She later lost the baby.
The complaint alleges Prestige Care hired a woman with scoliosis as a shuttle driver, and then asked her to perform housekeeping duties despite that not being listed on the job description, the complaint said. Those duties exacerbated her condition, according to the complaint.
Another person, who suffered a musculoskeletal damage that hampered his ability to walk and stand, was refused a job, the complaint said. Prestige Care’s medical examiner found he could work, with restrictions, while the man’s own physician said he could work without restrictions.
