On September 15th, the Seattle Times Intelligencer ran an article about a discrimination lawsuit filed by the EEOC against coffee giant Starbucks for terminating an employee with psychiatric disabilities. The suit claims that Starbucks "ignored (the employee's) requests for help and violated the Americans with Disabilities Act by not accommodating her special needs and by then firing her."
Headlines like these should cause HR managers to take time to ensure that their organizations do not get caught in a similar adverse employee situation. And a review of EEOC guidelines might be in order.
In 1997, the EEOC issued guidelines advising employers that they (1) may not discriminate against qualified workers with mental illness, (2) may not ask job applicants if they have a history of mental illness and (3) must tak reasonable steps to accommodate employees with psychiatric or emotional problems.
The key phrase here may be "reasonable steps to accommodation." The American with Disabilities Act requires a covered employer to provide reasonable accommodation for individuals with disabilities, unless it would cause undue hardship. Any reasonable change in the work environment or in the way a job is performed that enables a person with a disabilitlity to enjoy equal employment opportunities can be considered a reasonable accommodation.
Based on many EEOC and other employee-related lawsuits, one of the biggest mistakes employers make is taking no action at all when confronted with an employee with a mental illness and ultimately terminating the employee.
Getting a solid understanding as to how to respond to employees that claim psychiatric or other types of illnesses and/or disabilities is an important responsibility of the HR manager. And appropriate training of company managers and supervisors as to what their responsibilities are should be a top priority.
If you are looking for a good place to start, you might like to check out the Job Accommodation Network, a publication supported by the Office of Disability Employment Policy of the Department of Labor.
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