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JUSTICE DEPARTMENT SETTLES LAWSUIT AGAINST CITY OF CHICAGO FOR

WASHINGTON, D.C. -- The city of Chicago has agreed to compensate an individual it allegedly fired because of a disability, under an agreement reached today with the Justice Department.

The agreement, filed in U.S. District Court in Chicago, resolves allegations that the city refused to accommodate an employee with major depression by permanently transferring her to a position with less stress, and then terminated her in 1996 because of her disability. The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), requires that State and local government employers make reasonable accommodations to the limitations of their employees with disabilities.

"The law requires employers to make the same accommodations for people with mental disabilities as it does for those with physical disabilities," said Bill Lann Lee, Acting Assistant Attorney General for Civil Rights. "Rehiring the employee into a less stressful office, as originally recommended by her doctor, will not burden the city, and it will allow a long-term employee to remain productive. This is one of the primary purposes of the ADA."

The Agreement requires the city to provide the employee, who was rehired as a result of negotiations in February 1999, with $65,000 in back pay. It also requires the city to provide retroactive seniority and pension benefits to the employee. In addition, the city will remove all negative comments and references to the termination from her personnel file.

In November 1994, the employee, who had worked for many years as a clerk, was diagnosed with major depression. The employee's doctors determined that the stress of her position, where large amounts of overtime were required on a frequent basis, contributed to her depression. The employee filed a formal request for a reasonable accommodation and while that request was being considered, the city transferred her to another division. Several months later, the city, disregarding the physician's findings, decided the employee was not disabled within the meaning of the ADA, and reassigned her to her former position. Shortly thereafter, the employee became ill again and missed work for several days. The city fired her in April 1996.

Once the city has taken the action required by the agreement, the Department will move to dismiss the lawsuit. After dismissal, the district court will retain jurisdiction for purposes of enforcing the Settlement Agreement for three (3) years.