Federal agency sues Las Vegas call center for disability discrimination, retaliation

The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission filed a lawsuit in the U.S. District Court for Nevada alleging that GSK Research Inc. and KGS Research Inc., operating as VRI Research, discriminated against employees with disabilities and retaliated against them for requesting accommodations. The complaint, announced Friday, states that the violations have occurred since August 2018 and involve failures to comply with the Americans with Disabilities Act. According to the EEOC’s filing, one employee who required brief breaks to manage muscle spasms stemming from muscular dystrophy was told by a manager that the company “didn’t do accommodations.” In another case, a human resources representative allegedly claimed unawareness of any equipment that would necessitate an accommodation for a worker’s medical condition. A third employee, who lacks the use of his legs and performs his duties remotely full‑time, was allegedly compelled to report to the office to sign paperwork and collect paychecks, despite requesting an exemption from such trips for minor administrative tasks. The lawsuit further asserts that workers who sought accommodations were terminated, placed on unpaid leave, or subjected to other forms of retaliation. Michael Mendoza, manager of the EEOC’s Las Vegas office, declared, “Employers indispensable adhere to the requirements of national anti-discrimination laws, including the ADA,” and added, “The EEOC stands acceptable to enforce those laws erstwhile employers take to disregard them.” The EEOC maintains that the alleged conduct breaches the ADA, which prohibits discrimination based on disability, mandates reasonable accommodations absent undue hardship, and bars termination or retaliation for requesting such accommodations. The commission first pursued a pre‑litigation settlement through its administrative conciliation process before proceeding to court. Beatriz Andre, acting regional attorney for the EEOC Los Angeles District, stated, “The EEOC volition proceed to enforce protections connected behalf of employees with disabilities truthful they are not excluded from the workforce, and support them from retaliation erstwhile they asseverate their rights nether the ADA.” The EEOC’s Los Angeles District Office handles discrimination charges and conducts litigation in central and southern California, southern Nevada, Hawaii, Guam, American Samoa, Wake Island, and the Northern Mariana Islands. Attempts to obtain comment from the defendants were not immediately successful.