Navitas Systems to Pay $95,000 in EEOC Disability Discrimination Lawsuit

DETROIT – Navitas Systems, LLC, an Ann Arbor, Michigan battery manufacturer, will pay $95,000 and furnish other relief to resolve a disability discrimination lawsuit filed by the U.S. Equal Opportunity Commission (EEOC), the federal agency announced today.

According to the EEOC’s lawsuit, Navitas maintained a policy which required any employee returning from medical leave to be 100% free from restrictions. An employee suffered severe injuries to his left arm; his doctor temporarily restricted him from using his left arm but cleared him to return to work using his other arm. The employee could have completed the essential functions of his position using only one arm, but Navitas applied its policy, refused to allow him to return to work and fired him.

Such alleged conduct violated the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), which prohibits employment discrimination based on disability. The EEOC filed suit (Case No. 2:24-cv-12478 in U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan) after first attempting to reach a pre-litigation settlement through its conciliation process.

Under the three-year consent decree resolving the lawsuit, Navitas will pay $95,000 in monetary damages to the employee, provide annual training on the ADA to all managers, supervisors and human resources personnel, and submit annual reports to the EEOC regarding reasonable accommodation requests and employees returning to work following medical leave. Navitas has already eliminated the “100% restriction free” policy.

“Policies requiring employees to be 100% healthy or restriction-free to return to work following leave will likely run afoul of the ADA,” said Miles Uhlar, senior trial attorney for the EEOC’s Detroit Field Office. “Employers should develop and implement policies that require an interactive process and careful evaluation of whether an employee with physical restrictions can be accommodated without undue hardship to the employer.”

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 EEOC’s Detroit Field Office is part of the Indianapolis District Office, which oversees Michigan, Indiana, Kentucky and parts of Ohio.

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.