HARRISBURG – A Dauphin County woman is seeking compensation over claims she was terminated after asking for accommodations for her disabilities.
Ebony Stephenson filed a complaint Jan. 4 in the U. S. District Court for the Middle District of Pennsylvania against Healthcare Services Group Inc., alleging violation of the Americans with Disabilities Act and the Pennsylvania Human Relations Act.
According to the claim, Stephenson was hired by the defendant in October 2013 and worked as a housekeeper at the defendant's Spring Creek Nursing Home. On April 10, 2014, Stephenson's supervisor allegedly made a comment about the plaintiff's knapsack, which implied that the plaintiff was a man, the suit says. Following this incident, the plaintiff says she requested the number of her supervisor's supervisor and was allegedly accused of being disrespectful. She was discharged from her position the same day and began to suffer from anxiety, the suit states. She was rehired the next month by the defendant at a different facility and requested accommodation for her disabilities, but was refused them, the suit says. She was later terminated in August 2014 and claims that the reasons were in retaliation to her accommodation request.
Stephenson seeks damages for emotional distress, lost wages, front and back pay and attorneys' fees. She is represented by Larry A. Weisberg and Derrek W. Cummings of McCarthy Weisberg Cummings PC in Harrisburg.
U. S. District Court for the Middle District of Pennsylvania Case number 1:16-cv-00010