Schumacher Auto Group, a Palm Beach County car dealership company, will pay $112,500 and adopt new policies and training to settle a disability discrimination lawsuit brought by the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, the agency announced.
According to the EEOC’s complaint, Schumacher fired an accounting clerk in May 2024 while she was on leave recovering from cancer-related surgery. The agency said the employee asked for accommodations to return to work, including a five-pound lifting limit and no repetitive squatting, bending or lifting for three weeks. The company fired her instead, the EEOC alleged.
The lawsuit was filed in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida after the agency tried to resolve the matter through conciliation. Under a four-year consent decree, the money will go to the former employee as compensatory damages. The company also agreed to a disability accommodation policy, regular training for managers and employees, and reporting of complaints and accommodation requests to the EEOC.
EEOC Miami District Director Evangeline Hawthorne said the case shows the harm that can follow when an employer applies a blanket “100% healed” policy to workers returning with medical restrictions. The Americans with Disabilities Act requires employers to weigh each worker’s situation before deciding whether an accommodation is reasonable, she said.
The allegations have not been tested in court. The settlement resolves the case without a trial.
