California's Department of Fair Employment and Housing recently announced an administrative award of $846,300 to a man fired because he had cancer. This is the agencys largest ever award.
The sales manager was fired because his employer claimed that he wasnt spending enough time on sales travel during the same time frame that he was still recovering from cancer.
Charles Wideman worked for Acme Electric Corporation as a western regional sales manager from 2004 to 2008. He developed kidney cancer in 2006 and prostate cancer in 2007. Widemans cancers required two surgeries and numerous outpatient appointments. He was granted time off for the surgeries and recuperation time off.
Wideman returned after each operation, but requested an accommodation to limit his travel while undergoing additional cancer treatment. Acme Electric refused to grant or even acknowledge the requests to limit travel.
Instead, in December 2007, Widemans supervisor gave him an unfavorable performance evaluation, criticizing him for insufficient sales travel. In February of 2008, Acme Electric fired Wideman on the basis of the December performance evaluation. Acme Electric ignored the fact that Widemans performance since the December evaluation dramatically improved.
After a three-day hearing, the Fair Employment and Housing Commission found that Acme Electric violated the Fair Employment and Housing Act (FEHA) by:
Failing to accommodate Widemans known travel limitations due to his cancers
Failing to engage in a good faith, interactive process
Discriminating against Wideman because of his disability
Failing to take all reasonable steps to prevent discrimination from occurring.
Employers cannot discriminate against employees on the basis of disability. Further, under the FEHA, employers must reasonably accommodate employees with known disabilities. The duty to accommodate is an on-going obligation and requires a genuine effort to work with the employee to arrive at a workable reasonable accommodation.
Copyright: Cal Chamber of Commerce/HRC
The sales manager was fired because his employer claimed that he wasnt spending enough time on sales travel during the same time frame that he was still recovering from cancer.
Charles Wideman worked for Acme Electric Corporation as a western regional sales manager from 2004 to 2008. He developed kidney cancer in 2006 and prostate cancer in 2007. Widemans cancers required two surgeries and numerous outpatient appointments. He was granted time off for the surgeries and recuperation time off.
Wideman returned after each operation, but requested an accommodation to limit his travel while undergoing additional cancer treatment. Acme Electric refused to grant or even acknowledge the requests to limit travel.
Instead, in December 2007, Widemans supervisor gave him an unfavorable performance evaluation, criticizing him for insufficient sales travel. In February of 2008, Acme Electric fired Wideman on the basis of the December performance evaluation. Acme Electric ignored the fact that Widemans performance since the December evaluation dramatically improved.
After a three-day hearing, the Fair Employment and Housing Commission found that Acme Electric violated the Fair Employment and Housing Act (FEHA) by:
Failing to accommodate Widemans known travel limitations due to his cancers
Failing to engage in a good faith, interactive process
Discriminating against Wideman because of his disability
Failing to take all reasonable steps to prevent discrimination from occurring.
Employers cannot discriminate against employees on the basis of disability. Further, under the FEHA, employers must reasonably accommodate employees with known disabilities. The duty to accommodate is an on-going obligation and requires a genuine effort to work with the employee to arrive at a workable reasonable accommodation.
Copyright: Cal Chamber of Commerce/HRC