Mercer Community College Must Re-Hire Employee Fired Due To COVID Illness: AG

MERCER COUNTY, NJ – Mercer County Community College must re-hire an employee it fired due to COVID-19 illness, Attorney General Matthew J. Platkin and the Division on Civil Rights (DCR) said.

The DCR entered into a Consent Order and Decree resolving a complaint alleging that MCCC discriminated against the employee who contracted COVID-19 by firing him rather than extending his medical leave or allowing him to work remotely.

Under the Consent Order announced Monday, MCCC will rehire the man and pay him $50,000 as compensation for lost wages and benefits and damages for his pain and suffering.

The Consent Order also requires the College to ensure that its policies and practices comply with the New Jersey Law Against Discrimination (LAD), including by ensuring that its policies acknowledge that the College must engage in an interactive process with an employee who requests a disability accommodation and that a leave of absence may be a reasonable accommodation under the law.

The College must also pay $10,000 to DCR, train its employees to comply with the LAD, and must provide regular reports to DCR about how it handles accommodation requests it receives.

“Under New Jersey law, an employee who suffers a serious illness or disability may be entitled to an accommodation that allows them to recover and heal rather than be fired because they are unable to return to work,” Platkin said in the statement. “We will continue to pursue disability discrimination complaints on behalf of those workers who have not been treated fairly, justly, or with respect.”

“October is National Disability Employment Awareness Month, and our message is clear: We will hold accountable any employer who discriminates on the basis of disability, including against employees who have contracted COVID-19,” said Sundeep Iyer, Director of the Division on Civil Rights. “The LAD’s protections against disability discrimination in employment are robust, and enforcing them remains a key priority for our office.”

According to the Finding of Probable Cause issued by DCR, the employee was hospitalized in critical condition on a ventilator in December 2021 and subsequently developed pneumonia, kidney failure, sepsis, and motor issues. Months later, his sick time and sick bank credits were exhausted. He submitted medical documentation indicating that he needed an extension of his leave until September 2022 while he recovered.

When he was unable to convince the College to extend his leave beyond July, he asked if he could work a hybrid schedule. But the College denied his request and terminated him, Platkin said.

His replacement was hired in October, nearly three months after he offered to work a hybrid schedule and a little over a month after his doctor anticipated he would be able to return to work.

The DCR concluded in its Finding of Probable Cause that the college offered no evidence that granting the employee’s request for an extension of leave, or allowing him to work a hybrid schedule, would have imposed an undue hardship on its business operations.

The settlement also requires Mercer County Community College to take the following steps:

• Rehire the complainant into a position with the same salary he previously had;
• Pay the complainant lost wages equivalent to the amount the complainant would have made had he not been terminated as well as compensatory damages for pain, suffering, and humiliation, with the total amount paid to the complainant totaling $50,000;
• Pay $10,000 to DCR;
• Calculate future promotions and payment for the complainant based on his time in the position as if he was not terminated;
• Agree to a two-year period during which the College will report to DCR on, and DCR will monitor, all accommodation requests from employees;
• Revise the College’s anti-harassment and anti-discrimination policy to include additional detail on the right to request a reasonable accommodation, and train staff on that policy.

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