EEOC Sues Fluent Servicing for Disability Discrimination

TAMPA, Fla. – Fluent Servicing, LLC, a Tampa-based medical marijuana treatment center, violated federal law when it failed to provide a reasonable accommodation for and then fired an employee with a disability, the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity (EEOC) charged in a federal lawsuit announced today.

According to the EEOC’s lawsuit, the employee had a seizure at work and called out sick for a handful of days. Fluent then instructed the employee to obtain a doctor’s note before she could return to work. The employee provided the note, which included a request for a reasonable accommodation. Instead of discussing the reasonable accommodation with the employee, however, the company immediately terminated her in March 2024, the EEOC said.

“Employers that receive requests for reasonable accommodations must engage in an interactive process to identify and provide reasonable accommodations for employees with disabilities, absent undue hardship,” said Kristen Foslid, regional attorney for the EEOC’s Miami District. “This is not only basic fairness, but also a matter of federal law, which EEOC will enforce.”

The company’s alleged conduct violated the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), which prohibits disability discrimination, absent undue hardship. The EEOC filed suit (EEOC v. Fluent Servicing, LLC, Civil Action No. 8:25-cv-02522-JLB-SPF) in U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Florida, Tampa Division, after first attempting to reach a pre-litigation settlement via its conciliation process. The EEOC is seeking back pay, compensatory damages, and punitive damages for the former employee, as well as injunctive relief to prevent future discrimination.

EEOC’s Tampa Field Office Director Tamra Schweiberger said, “There is a long-standing employment gap between working-age people with disabilities and those without disabilities. The EEOC will continue to aggressively enforce the ADA to ensure that Americans with disabilities have equal access to employment.”

For more information on disability discrimination, please visit www.eeoc.gov/disability-discrimination-and-employment-decisions. For more information on reasonable accommodations, please visit https://www.eeoc.gov/eeoc-disability-related-resources/reasonable-accommodation.

The Miami District Office’s jurisdiction includes Florida, Puerto Rico, and the U.S. Virgin Islands.

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 is responsible for investigating charges against state and local government employers before referring them to DOJ for potential litigation. 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. Stay connected with the latest EEOC news by subscribing to our email updates.