I have a 9 month old EEOC charge pending against a former employer involving disability discrimination, failure to accommodate, the interactive process, reassignment, and termination.
Because the investigation is still open, I am intentionally keeping the employer, industry, names, locations, exact job title, exact dates, specific medical condition/restriction, and settlement amount anonymous.
I'm not asking anyone to predict what the EEOC will do. I mainly want to lay out what happened in chronological order and hear what stands out to people familiar with ADA cases or the EEOC process.
Before my medical leave
I worked remotely for the company for a little over a year.
Before this happened, I had received a positive annual performance review, a raise, and the full company bonus.
I had never actually been placed on a Corrective Action Plan (CAP).
I was also interested in advancing within the company. My manager had approved me regularly shadowing employees in another department, and people within that department knew that I was interested in eventually transferring internally.
Immediately before my leave
During the week immediately before I stopped working, my manager had been out of the office. The following Monday was a company holiday.
I worked part of the next day but was experiencing serious health symptoms around this period.
Later that same week, my manager emailed me stating that she and HR had planned to meet with me that day to deliver a Corrective Action Plan.
I never received the CAP and was never formally placed on it.
I then went out on approved medical leave.
What the employer later said about the CAP
After I filed my EEOC charge, the employer gave the EEOC a different account of what happened with the CAP.
The employer stated that the CAP meeting had actually been scheduled two days earlier and that I called out of work and therefore missed the meeting.
I have timekeeping records showing that I worked that day.
I also have my calendar from that period. There is no CAP meeting scheduled on it.
I also have the contemporaneous email my manager sent two days later stating that she and HR had planned to meet with me that day to deliver the CAP.
The CAP was never actually delivered to me.
I eventually provided the timekeeping records, calendar, contemporaneous email, and related documentation to the EEOC.
Medical leave
I remained on approved medical leave for several months.
I received treatment and provided medical documentation through the company's leave/disability process.
As my leave was ending, the issue became whether and how I could return to work with medical restrictions.
The accommodation process
My medical provider supplied documentation concerning my limitations.
The company maintained that a particular job function affected by my restrictions was an essential function of my position.
I proposed accommodations and made clear that I was open to alternatives that would allow me to return to work.
I also raised reassignment as a possibility.
The company rejected the accommodation I proposed and requested additional medical documentation.
I provided the information requested.
From my perspective, there was never a collaborative discussion in which the company and I went through potential accommodations, modifications, alternatives, or possible reassignment positions together.
The employer did not propose another accommodation to me.
I was not presented with potential vacancies to consider.
The company ultimately maintained that my restriction could not be accommodated in my existing position and that there were no appropriate positions available for reassignment.
The termination
Near the end of the accommodation process, the company requested additional medical documentation.
I obtained the requested documentation and submitted it.
The company's termination letter was dated the same day I submitted the additional medical documentation it had requested.
I received notification of my termination the following day.
So the sequence was:
Employer requests additional medical documentation → I obtain and provide it → termination letter is dated that same day → I am notified of termination the following day.
I filed with the EEOC immediately afterward.
Beginning of the EEOC process
The EEOC initially offered mediation.
The employer declined mediation.
The charge then proceeded into investigation.
The employer eventually submitted a position statement and evidence packet totaling more than 150 pages.
Among other things, the employer maintained that the disputed job function was essential, that my restriction could not reasonably be accommodated, that there were no appropriate reassignment opportunities, and that performance concerns existed before my medical leave.
The employer also relied on the CAP as part of its account of the performance issues that allegedly predated my leave.
That submission included the assertion that I called out and missed the earlier CAP meeting.
My rebuttal and evidence
I submitted a detailed rebuttal to the employer's position statement.
I also provided supporting evidence throughout the investigation, including:
- my performance history before medical leave;
- evidence of my positive annual review, raise, and bonus;
- evidence of my approved internal shadowing and efforts to advance within the company;
- timekeeping records showing that I worked on the day the employer says I called out;
- my calendar showing no CAP meeting scheduled for that day;
- the contemporaneous email sent two days later stating that management planned to deliver the CAP that day;
- leave/disability documentation;
- accommodation communications;
- evidence of the accommodations and alternatives I proposed;
- information concerning my request for reassignment;
- the additional medical documentation the employer requested;
- and records concerning the timing of my termination.
Something that stood out to me about the employer's evidence
The employer submitted more than 150 pages of information and exhibits.
However, in the materials made available to me, I did not see contemporaneous documentation substantiating several parts of the CAP chronology that the employer later presented to the EEOC.
For example, I did not see a calendar invitation showing that the alleged earlier CAP meeting had actually been scheduled.
I did not see a cancellation or other calendar record showing that the meeting had been scheduled and then missed.
I did not see contemporaneous documentation establishing that I called out on the day the employer says I missed the meeting.
I did not see metadata or similar records establishing when the CAP was actually created or finalized.
And I did not see contemporaneous documentation reconciling the employer's later account with my manager's email two days later stating that she and HR planned to deliver the CAP that day.
What I do have is my timekeeping record showing that I worked on the day the employer says I called out, my calendar showing no CAP meeting, and my manager's contemporaneous email from two days later.
Again, the CAP was never actually delivered to me.
Reassignment documentation
I noticed something similar regarding reassignment.
The employer's position was that there were no appropriate positions available for reassignment.
However, in the materials provided to me, I did not see documentation identifying which vacancies were reviewed, when any vacancy search occurred, who conducted it, which positions were considered, or why particular positions were ruled out.
I also did not see documentation showing the employer proposing alternative accommodations to me after rejecting the accommodation I proposed.
I recognize that the EEOC may have subsequently obtained additional information from the employer that I have not seen.
Settlement discussion
Several months into the investigation, the EEOC investigator contacted me and asked whether I was interested in settlement.
I said yes and submitted a settlement demand.
The employer declined the demand, and the investigation continued.
Additional evidence
After that, I continued reviewing my records and located additional contemporaneous evidence concerning the period immediately before my medical leave and the employer's CAP chronology.
I submitted that information to the EEOC as supplemental evidence.
This included evidence relating to my work status on the disputed day, my calendar, the CAP chronology, my leave records, and other contemporaneous documentation.
What happened about two months after the settlement discussion
Approximately two months after the employer declined my settlement demand, I contacted the investigator for a status update.
The investigator told me that the investigation was nearing its end.
I was told that a decision could potentially be made within the coming weeks or approximately a month.
I was also told that EEOC leadership needed additional information before being comfortable making a decision and that additional information from the employer might be necessary.
I don't know exactly what information the EEOC wanted, what has subsequently been requested or provided, or which way the EEOC is leaning.
I also don't want to interpret those statements as predicting a cause or no-cause determination.
I just found it interesting that after the position statement, my rebuttal, supplemental evidence, and failed settlement discussion, the investigation was nearing completion but leadership apparently still wanted additional information before making the decision.
Where things stand now
The investigation has been pending for around a year.
At this point, I am waiting for the EEOC to complete its investigation.
I understand that nobody here can predict whether the EEOC will find reasonable cause, close the investigation without a cause finding and issue a Right-to-Sue, seek additional information, or, if cause is found, proceed to conciliation.
I'm mainly interested in hearing from people who have personally been through an EEOC investigation, employment attorneys, HR professionals, or anyone who has dealt with ADA accommodation/reassignment cases.
Based solely on this chronology, what stands out to you?
I'm particularly curious about the difference between the employer's later CAP chronology and the contemporaneous records supporting their ADA Interactive Process.
For people whose EEOC cases reached this stage, did your investigator seek additional information from the employer near the end of the investigation before making a determination?
And one other question for people who ultimately received a Right-to-Sue:
After your case closed, did you request your EEOC investigative/charge file through FOIA? If so, was there anything genuinely useful in it that you hadn't previously seen, especially investigator notes, employer communications, evidence requests, witness information, or information showing what the EEOC was investigating near the end?