No fault attendance policy leads to $20 million EEOC settlement

Verizon Communications is paying big bucks to settle a class action disability discrimination lawsuit claiming that the company unlawfully denied reasonable accommodations to employees while applying its no fault attendance policy. Under the companys no fault attendance policy, employees were charged with absences, regardless of the reason, and would be disciplined after hitting a certain number of chargeable absences. According to the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), Verizon refused to make exceptions to its policy when individuals were forced to miss work due to their disabilities. The EEOC objected to the application of the no fault attendance policy to individuals with disabilities because it did not provide any flexibility or attempt to reasonably accommodate the needs of individuals who needed to miss work due to their condition.