EEOC charges company for not allowing disabled worker to go remote

The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission is suing a payment processing company for disability discrimination for refusing to allow a disabled consumer services representative to work from home when co-workers were regularly testing positive for COVID-19.

The EEOC said that beginning in May 2020, an employee of Columbus, Georgia-based Total Systems Services LLC unsuccessfully began requesting remote work on her doctor’s advice. She went on medical leave until a remote position became available.

By the time the employee’s leave expired in July 2020, most of the department was working remotely, but Total Systems continued to deny the employee’s reasonable accommodation request, and she was forced to resign in August 2020 to ensure her safety, the EEOC said. 

The company is charged with failure to accommodate, constructive discharge and retaliation in violation of the Americans with Disabilities Act in the lawsuit filed in U.S. District Court in Atlanta, Equal Employment Opportunity Commission v. Total Systems Services LLC.

The EEOC is seeking back pay, compensatory damages and punitive damages as well as injunctive relief to prevent future discrimination, it said.

Total Systems’ parent company, Global Payments Inc., did not respond to a request for comment.