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July 3, 2024
The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) recently announced that it resolved a sexual harassment and disability discrimination lawsuit against Weis Markets, Inc.
According to the EEOC’s lawsuit, a male supervisor at Weis Markets’ grocery store in Mifflintown, Pennsylvania subjected a female employee to a sexually hostile work environment, including unwanted physical contact and sexual comments. Another supervisor allegedly witnessed some of the conduct and failed to take action to stop it. The EEOC further charged that, when the female employee reported the conduct to the general manager, Weis Markets failed to take reasonable action to end the harassment and prevent it from recurring.
The EEOC alleged that Weis Markets later required the female employee to participate in the company’s employee assistance program (EAP) as a mandatory condition of her continued employment. The EEOC contended that Weis Markets was requiring the female employee’s participation in the EAP because coworkers had complained that she was creating a hostile work environment because they were afraid that she was going to report them to Weis Markets’ management for engaging in workplace misconduct (like she complained to management about sexual harassment by the male supervisor). In its Answer to the EEOC’s Complaint, Weis Markets alleges that they felt that the female employee should complete an employee assistance program on communication at work and getting along with others. Such participation would have included mental health counseling. However, Weis Markets lacked any objective evidence to require EAP participation. When the female employee refused to participate in the company’s EAP, Weis Markets suspended and then fired her.
The alleged conduct violates Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which prohibits sexual harassment in employment, and Titles I and V of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), which prohibit disability discrimination and retaliation in employment.
The consent decree that resolved the lawsuit requires Weis Markets to pay $75,000 to the female employee. It also prohibits Weis Markets from creating a sexually hostile work environment, from requiring employees to participate in the EAP when that would entail unlawful medical examinations or disability-related inquiries, or from taking adverse actions against employees because they refused to undergo unlawful medical examinations or disability-related inquiries in the EAP. Weis Markets further is required to create a policy about referral of employees to the EAP; provide mandatory training about Title VII, the ADA, and its new EAP policies; and report information to the EEOC concerning future sexual harassment complaints or revisions to its EAP policy.
The case is EEOC v. Weis Markets, Inc., No. 1:23-cv-01767 (M.D.Pa).
Employers: Employee Assistance Programs can be valuable resources for employees’ personal and professional wellbeing. However, you cannot require an employee to participate without a reasonable belief based on objective evidence that the employee is unable to perform the essential functions of their job or present a direct threat to themselves or others. Requiring participation may violate employees’ rights under the ADA, including the right to be free from medical examinations and disability-related inquiries that are not job-related and consistent with business necessity.
This article is designed to provide one perspective regarding recent legal developments, and is not intended to serve as legal advice. Always consult an attorney with specific legal issues.
