Articles Posted in Disabilities

ASI-Logo-300x132The outpouring of support for the woman who filed an EEOC Charge alleging she was fired after disclosing she had been diagnosed with cancer has been overwhelming and unprecedented.

Nearly 1,000 people expressed their feelings on Facebook, more than 100 wrote deeply sympathetic comments, and 12 shared similar experiences of being subjected to disability discrimination at Ameriserve.  https://www.sexualharassmentlawyerblawg.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/187/2024/05/Screenshot-2024-05-02-at-3.03.39-PM-280x300.png

Two former Ameriserve employees offered to provide sworn statements attesting that they too were fired because of their disabilities.

ASI-Logo-300x132 Ameriserve International, Inc. (“Ameriserve”), an Iowa-based provider of residential services to those with intellectual disabilities, fired one of its employees because of her cancer diagnosis, in blatant violation of the Americans with Disabilities Act (“ADA”) and the Iowa Civil Rights Act of 1965 (“ICRA”), and its own stated mission, according to charges filed by Friedman & Houlding LLP with the EEOC and the Iowa Commission on Civil Rights to pursue these claims on behalf of the fired employee (“Charging Party”).

As alleged in her Charge of Discrimination, in November 2023, Charging Party was offered and accepted full-time employment as a Client Services Coordinator at Ameriserve, after interviewing with Ameriserve’s hiring manager Kyle Clemens. At the time Charging Party applied for a job with Ameriserve, she was employed at Catholic Charities, providing services to victims of sexual assault. She had sought employment at Ameriserve to further her career, given that the position at Ameriserve would be a supervisory role. A few weeks later, in December 2023, Charging Party accepted the position she was offered at Ameriserve and put in her resignation at Catholic Charities.

The next day, after a routine colonoscopy, Charging Party learned that she had colon cancer. After telling her supervisor, a Catholic Charities Director, the news of her diagnosis, the Catholic Charities Director stated that Charging Party could retract her resignation, take FMLA leave, and maintain her current health insurance, in case Charging Party’s prospective employer, Ameriserve, did anything to compromise her employment status there as a result of the diagnosis.

Contact Information