Blood Bank of Hawaii settles disability discrimination lawsuit

Blood Bank of Hawaii has agreed to pay $175,000 to settle a disability discrimination lawsuit filed by the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission on behalf of employees who were fired or forced to resign after undergoing medical procedures.

The blood bank fired one employee after she was diagnosed with breast cancer and began receiving treatment and fired another employee after she started surgery for carpel tunnel syndrome. A third employee was forced to resign from his job as a commercial vehicle driver because he would not have been able to return to full duty 12 weeks after he took leave and started treatment for a rotator cuff injury.

The U.S. EEOC sued the Blood Bank of Hawaii in 2017 on behalf of employees who were fired or forced to resign because their required medical treatment prevented them from returning to work within the 12 weeks the organization’s maximum leave policy allowed.

The $175,000 payment is one of the conditions included in a consent decree Senior U.S. District Court Judge Helen Gillmor approved Monday. The consent decree also provides for 2-1/2 years of federal court oversight.

Other conditions include prohibiting the blood bank and its officers, agents and managers from discriminating against employees based on the employees’ disability; retaliating against employees; and limiting the amount of leave employees can take. The blood bank and its officers, agents and managers are also required to provide reasonable work accommodation for employees returning from medical leave.

To accomplish the above conditions, the consent decree requires the blood bank to retain a third-party equal employment opportunity consultant, designate an in-house Americans With Disabilities Act coordinator, revise its policies and procedures, and provide training to all employees.

“We are pleased that the blood bank is willing to revise its policies to address ADA requirements,” said EEOC-Honolulu Director Glory Gervacio Saure.

Saure said employers need to review and update their policies after Congress amended the ADA in 2008 and see how the ADA interacts with the Family and Medical Leave Act.

President and CEO Kim-Ahn Nguyen said in a written statement that Blood Bank of Hawaii is pleased to have reached a resolution on the lawsuit.

“We support equal opportunity employment principals and have put in place policies and processes to facilitate compliance with the requirements of all federal and state equal employment opportunity regulations,” she said.