Atlantic Properties and Diversified Funding to Pay $112,000 in EEOC Disability Discrimination Lawsuit

BOSTON — Atlantic Property Management Corporation and its affiliate, Diversified Funding, Inc., property management companies in Boston, will pay $112,000 and furnish other relief to settle a lawsuit charging disability discrimination and retaliation filed by the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), the federal agency announced today.

According to the EEOC’s lawsuit, the companies offered an administrative assistant position to a woman in September 2021, but revoked the job offer a few weeks later when she disclosed she was diagnosed with breast cancer. Her medical provider confirmed she could do the job and would just need a small amount of time off work a few times per month for treatment. Alternatively, the EEOC argued, the company could have modified her weekly work schedule to shift some of her hours to non-treatment days. Instead of making such accommodations, evidence obtained during the litigation showed that the companies began contacting other applicants shortly after learning of the cancer diagnosis and eventually offered the job to a different applicant.

“The ADA requires employers provide flexibility needed by disabled employees, including those with cancer,” said Kimberly Cruz, regional attorney for the EEOC’s New York District. “Revoking someone’s job offer because of their cancer diagnosis is the precise harm the ADA was passed to prevent.”

Such alleged conduct violates the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), which requires employers to make reasonable accommodations for the disabilities of applicants and employees, unless doing so would cause an undue hardship. Accommodations may include modified or part-time work schedules and unpaid leave for treatment. The EEOC filed suit (EEOC v. Atlantic Property Management, et al., Case No. 1:24-cv-10370) in the U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts after first attempting to reach a pre-litigation settlement through its conciliation process.

Arlean Nieto, acting director of the EEOC’s New York District, said, “The EEOC is committed to enforcing the ADA. Under the law, qualified individuals with disabilities are entitled to accommodations absent undue hardship, and that’s true whether they are long-time employees, newly hired employees, or applicants seeking a job.”

In August 2026, the court denied a summary judgment motion filed by the companies, concluding that there was sufficient evidence for the EEOC’s case to proceed to trial before a Boston jury. The court also granted a motion filed by the EEOC, finding that it was undisputed that the job applicant’s cancer diagnosis was a disability under the ADA and that there was no need to put that question to a jury. The case was set to go to trial before a jury in the federal courthouse in Boston in November.

Under the terms of the two-year consent decree approved by the court, the defendants must provide annual ADA training to their managerial and human resources employees, revise their policies to explain employees’ rights to accommodations and other ADA protections, and make regular reports to the EEOC regarding their handling of accommodations requests, in addition to the $112,000 payment.

For more information on disability discrimination, please visit www.eeoc.gov/disability-discrimination. Information about potential accommodations can also be found at askjan.org.

The lawsuit was commenced by the EEOC’s New York District Office.  The EEOC’s New York District Office has jurisdiction over New York, Connecticut, Vermont, New Hampshire, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, and Maine.

The EEOC is the sole federal agency authorized to investigate and litigate against businesses and other private sector employers for violations of federal laws prohibiting employment discrimination. For public sector employers, the EEOC shares jurisdiction with the Department of Justice’s Civil Rights Division. The EEOC also is responsible for coordinating the federal government’s employment antidiscrimination effort. More information about the EEOC is available at www.eeoc.gov.