Osmose Utilities to Pay $25,000 in EEOC Disability Discrimination Lawsuit

ATLANTA — Osmose Utilities Services, Inc., an Atlanta-based provider of infrastructure support services and products to utility companies, will pay $25,000 and provide other equitable relief to settle a disability discrimination lawsuit filed by the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), the federal agency announced today.

According to the EEOC’s lawsuit, Osmose Utilities failed to accommodate an employee at its Peachtree City office who suffered a stroke while at work and lost her peripheral vision. Upon returning to work after her stroke, the employee requested to telework as an accommodation for her disability. In-person attendance was not an essential function of her position and Osmose Utilities had previously allowed the employee to work remotely. Despite this, the company denied the employee’s request to work remotely as an accommodation for her medical condition. Osmose Utilities then fired the employee approximately seven weeks after she returned to work from her stroke-related medical leave.

“Under federal law, if an employee can perform the essential functions of the job with reasonable accommodation, the employer must provide it unless doing so causes undue hardship,” said Marcus G. Keegan, regional attorney for the EEOC’s Atlanta District. “An employer must engage in the interactive process and thoughtfully consider each request for a reasonable accommodation for a disability on an individual, case-by-case basis.”

Such alleged conduct violates the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), which prohibits disability discrimination. The ADA requires employers to provide reasonable accommodations for qualified individuals with disabilities, absent undue hardship. The EEOC filed suit (EEOC v. Osmose Utilities Services, Inc., Case No. 1:24-cv-04140-MLB-JKL) in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Georgia after first attempting to reach a pre-litigation settlement through its administrative conciliation process.

Darrell E. Graham, director of the EEOC’s Atlanta District, said, “The EEOC remains dedicated to upholding the ADA and ensuring that individuals with disabilities receive the fair and equal employment opportunities promised under federal law.”

The two-year consent decree resolving the lawsuit requires Osmose Utilities to provide $25,000 to the former employee. In addition to the monetary relief, Osmose Utilities will provide specialized training to supervisors and human resources personnel, and it will post a notice in the workplace informing employees of the settlement and of their right to be free from workplace discrimination. Furthermore, the company will provide the EEOC with periodic reports regarding requests for disability accommodation and how those requests were handled.

For more information on disability discrimination and accommodations, please visit https://www.eeoc.gov/disability-discrimination and https://askjan.org/.

The EEOC’s Atlanta District Office has jurisdiction over Georgia and the counties of Allendale, Bamberg, Barnwell, Beaufort, Berkeley, Charleston, Colleton, Dorchester, Georgetown, Hampton, Jasper and Williamsburg in South Carolina.

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.