Schumacher Auto Group to Pay $112,500 in EEOC Disability Discrimination Lawsuit

MIAMI — Schumacher Auto Group, Inc., a Palm Beach County car dealership company, will pay $112,500 and implement significant policy and training reforms 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 suit, Schumacher terminated an accounting clerk in May 2024 while the employee was on leave recovering from cancer-related surgery. When the employee requested reasonable accommodations — including a five-pound lifting restriction and no repetitive squatting, bending or lifting for three weeks — in order to return to work, Schumacher fired her.

“Employers need to be aware of their obligations under federal law to provide reasonable accommodations to individuals with disabilities,” said EEOC Miami Regional Attorney Kristen Foslid. “We appreciate Schumacher’s willingness to work collaboratively to resolve this matter at an early stage and its commitment to implementing policy changes and training that will help ensure compliance going forward.”

Conduct as alleged in the agency’s complaint violates the Americans with Disabilities Act, which requires employers to make reasonable accommodations for the known disabilities of employees absent an undue hardship and prohibits employers from discriminating against individuals with disabilities, including terminating employees because of their disabilities. The EEOC filed suit (EEOC v. Schumacher Auto Group, Inc., Case No. 9:26-cv-81322-EA) in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida after first attempting to resolve the matter through its administrative conciliation process.

EEOC Miami District Director Evangeline Hawthorne said, “This case illustrates the harm caused when an employer applies a blanket ‘100% healed’ policy to an employee seeking to return to work with medical restrictions. The ADA requires employers to consider each employee’s individual circumstances and determine whether a reasonable accommodation would allow the employee to perform the job.”

Under the four-year consent decree resolving the lawsuit, Schumacher will pay $112,500 in compensatory damages to the former employee. The company will also implement a comprehensive disability accommodation policy, provide regular training to managers and employees on disability discrimination and accommodation obligations, and report complaints and accommodation requests to the EEOC.

For more information on disability discrimination, please visit https://www.eeoc.gov/eeoc-disability-related-resources.

The Miami District Office’s jurisdiction includes Florida, Puerto Rico and 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 also is responsible for coordinating the federal government’s employment antidiscrimination effort. More information about the EEOC is available at www.eeoc.gov.