WILLIAMSPORT – The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), acting on behalf of an oil rig worker allegedly fired for his history of cancer, has settled Americans with Disabilities Act-related litigation with a Potter County-based natural gas well company to the tune of $184,000.
The EEOC of Baltimore, Md. first filed suit in the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Pennsylvania on Sept. 20, 2021 versus Gas Field Specialists, Inc. of Shinglehouse.
According to the EEOC’s complaint, Marlin R. Houghtaling, who suffered from ureteral cancer which spread to his bladder and kidney, was employed by the defendants as an oil rig crew laborer, laid off in May of 2020 and later terminated.
The EEOC alleged Houghtaling was limited in his bodily waste elimination, major bodily functions of normal cell growth and normal operation of his bladder, kidney and urinary tract. The EEOC further claimed that in March of 2020, Houghtaling was laid off and told it was because he had cancer and that it did not want him to get COVID-19.
Moreover, the EEOC alleged the defendants did not offer reassignment to Houghtaling and throughout 2020, rehired other laid-off employees except for Houghtaling, due to his disability. Houghtaling was an employee of 15 years at the time of his firing.
In a Nov. 19, 2021 answer to the complaint, the defendant countered that the EEOC failed to state claims against it upon which relief can be granted, including a claim under the Americans with Disabilities Act and/or Title I of the Civil Rights Act of 1991 – and that it terminated Houghtaling for “legitimate, non-discriminatory reasons” which did not include discrimination.
However, according to the EEOC, the defendant’s actions did in violate federal law.
“Such alleged conduct violates the American with Disabilities Act, which prohibits employers from making employment decisions based on disability, or subjecting employees to disparate terms and conditions of employment and/or a hostile work environment, layoff, termination or forcing an employee to quit, based on a real or perceived disability or history of disability,” the EEOC said in a press release announcing a consent decree reached to settle the suit.
That consent decree was handed down on Aug. 2 and requires that Gas Field Specialists pay Houghtaling $174,000 in lost wages and $10,000 in compensatory damages, for a total of $184,000.
It further enforces the following tenets over the next three years:
• Enjoins the defendant from violating the ADA in the future, including from taking adverse actions against employees on the basis that they have health conditions that could expose them to a higher risk of health complications were they to contract COVID-19;
• Requires the defendant to document its reasons whenever employees are not recalled from seasonal layoff and provide training on the ADA to its managers and human resources staff;
• Mandates the defendant to provide reports to the EEOC detailing its compliance with terms of the decree and its receipt of any complaints of disability discrimination.
“Employers have an obligation to make personnel decisions without regard to employees’ medical history. The unlawful employment practices, in this case, are unacceptable in our nation’s workplaces. This monetary settlement is an affirmation of who we are and what we believe as a country: That workplace discrimination is unacceptable and illegal,” EEOC Philadelphia District Regional Attorney and plaintiff counsel Debra M. Lawrence said.
“Many employees diagnosed with cancer choose to work through their condition -- because, after all, they still have to make ends meet. This employee lost his job because this employer failed to provide full inclusion for people with disabilities,” EEOC Philadelphia Regional District Director Jamie R. Williamson added.
The plaintiff was represented by in-house counsel David J. Staudt, Debra M. Lawrence, Gwendolyn Reams and Ashley M. Martin, in Baltimore, Md., Philadelphia and Washington, D.C.
The defendant was represented by Jamie R. Schumacher, Lauren A. Holler and Lisa S. Presta of MacDonald Illig Jones & Britton, in Erie.
U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Pennsylvania case 4:22-cv-01615
From the Pennsylvania Record: Reach Courts Reporter Nicholas Malfitano at nick.malfitano@therecordinc.com