Bradley Arant Attorneys Help Mississippi Hospital Beat EEOC Suit

A discrimination lawsuit filed by the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission against Vicksburg Healthcare, LLC d/b/a River Region Medical Center was recently dismissed by a Mississippi federal judge. U.S. District Judge Keith Starrett ruled that the EEOC failed to meet its burden in establishing that Beatrice Chambers, a nurse formerly employed by River Region, was a qualified individual under the Americans with Disabilities Act. Chambers, who was granted leave under the Family Medical Leave Act for rotator cuff surgery, was later terminated after her leave expired and she was released to return to light duty work.

The ruling determined that the EEOC failed to produce a sufficient explanation for the discrepancy between Chambers’ claim that she was “temporarily totally disabled” in her application for disability benefits and the assertion that she was able to perform the essential functions of her job despite her disability. The judge noted that the U.S. Supreme Court has held an ADA plaintiff cannot ignore a contradiction arising out of a claim for total disability benefits.

River Region was successfully represented by attorneys J. William Manuel and Anna Sweat Day of Bradley Arant Boult Cummings LLP.

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