Walmart Settles Epilepsy Discrimination Case

Background

Walmart recently settled an employment case involving a person with epilepsy. The plaintiff was an optician for about nine years with Walmart when she suffered a tonic-clonic seizure at home. Plaintiff hand-delivered her paperwork from her neurologist clearing her to return to work on April 24, 2015. Within 2 days her supervisor complained to personnel that plaintiff was a "burden" to the department. Thereafter, she was suspended.

Result

The Court denied Walmart’s request for summary judgment on the Failure to Accommodate cause of action because the plaintiff's neurologist, Walmart's Fitness for Duty Doctor, and Walmart's expert all agreed the plaintiff should have been allowed to return to work in May 2015 and not placed on suspension for nearly a year. Walmart settled just before trial for a confidential amount.

Special thanks to Jeanne A. Carpenter Legal Defense Fund network attorney Scott E. Schutzman for his diligent work on this case