EEOC Sues Verizon Maryland, LLC for Disability Discrimination

BALTIMORE – Verizon Maryland, LLC, a leading telecommunications company, violated federal law when it refused to allow a disabled employee to compete for vacant positions within the company to find work compatible with his disability, forcing him to quit, the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) announced today. 

According to the EEOC’s lawsuit, a management employee who suffered from hypertension asked his manager to permit a move to a field position or to an alternate management position to accommodate his disability. There was an opening for a field position which the employee had previ­ously held, but Verizon disallowed him to compete for that position, telling him he would have to resign and reapply for the position in six months. No other accommodation was offered, and the employee was forced to resign due to medical necessity. He was not offered an opportunity to compete for vacant management positions.  

Such alleged conduct violates the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), which prohibits discrimination based on disability. The EEOC filed suit (EEOC v. Verizon Maryland, LLC., Civil Action No.8:23-cv-02428-AAQ in U.S. District Court for the District of Maryland, Greenbelt Division, after first attempting to reach a pre-litigation settlement through its conciliation process.

“Employers must be flexible and work in a spirit of problem solving and cooperation when responding to ADA accommodation requests,” said EEOC Baltimore Field Office Director Rosemarie Rhodes. “When an assignment is incompatible with an employee’s disability, other assignments must be considered.”

EEOC Regional Attorney Debra M. Lawrence added, “Inviting an employee to resign and then reapply for work six months later can never be a reasonable accommodation.”

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

The EEOC’s Baltimore Field Office is one of four offices in the EEOC Philadelphia District Office, which has jurisdiction over Pennsylvania, Maryland, Delaware, West Virginia and parts of New Jersey and Ohio. Attorneys in the EEOC Philadelphia District Office also prosecute discrimination cases in Washington, D.C. and parts of Virginia.

The EEOC advances opportunity in the workplace by enforcing federal laws prohibiting employment discrimination. More information is available at www.eeoc.gov. Stay connected with the latest EEOC news by subscribing to our email updates.