Equinox settles ADA claim alleging it denied request to delay interview due to period cramps

Dive Brief:

• Fitness facility chain Equinox will pay $48,000 to resolve claims by the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission that it rejected a job applicant with endometriosis in violation of the Americans with Disabilities Act and Title VII of the 1964 Civil Rights Act, EEOC announced in a press release Thursday.
• EEOC filed a complaint in December alleging Equinox rejected the candidate, who applied for a front desk position, after she requested to delay a second interview with Equinox by one week because of menstrual cramps. EEOC said the candidate explained that her endometriosis caused severe cramps that required her to lie down.
• Equinox sent a rejection letter to the candidate days later, and EEOC claimed an interviewer texted the candidate stating that the company passed on her because of “the concern in the future if your absence may occur due to your monthly cycle.” Equinox agreed to provide monetary and other relief in its consent decree with EEOC, and it denied the allegations.

Dive Insight:

The protections of both the ADA and Title VII extend to both job applicants and employees, and violations during the job interview process have long resulted in unfavorable outcomes for employers.

For example, EEOC said in a lawsuit last year that employers violate the ADA when they fire someone for not disclosing a disability during a job interview, or for waiting until after their hiring to ask for an accommodation for a disability. The agency also has said the law prohibits employers from asking certain questions about an applicant’s disability.

In its complaint against Equinox, EEOC alleged failure to hire on the basis of disability and failure to accommodate in violation of the ADA as well as failure to hire on the basis of sex, specifically the “innately sex-based characteristic of menstruation.”

“This lawsuit and its resolution underscore that job applicants cannot be penalized for seeking a reasonable accommodation,” Mindy Weinstein, director of EEOC’s Washington, D.C., field office, said in the agency’s release.

The two-year consent decree between EEOC and Equinox requires the company to implement anti-discrimination policies, including a procedure for applicants and employees to request reasonable accommodations. All employees at the company’s five Washington, D.C., locations will receive ADA and Title VII training, including specialized training for managers and others involved in job interviews, hiring and reasonable accommodation requests, EEOC said.