We playfully refer to the serious matter of the EEOC repeatedly suing health care facilities for alleged violations of the Americans With Disabilities Act (“ADA”) as the EEOC “shooting fish in a barrel” or “picking low hanging fruit.”   We warn medical folks about the EEOC’s targeting of them by highlighting new suiits brought by the EEOC.

However, Merrily Archer, a Denver-area employment attorney, appropriately cautioned us not to read too much into the initial EEOC press releases when they file such cases.  She said:

“Please reserve judgment re any EEOC press release until the facts come out in discovery. I defended a similar-sounding EEOC prosecution two years ago involving a deaf employee, and the allegations in the EEOC’s Complaint and corresponding EEOC press release were provably false nonsense.

Worse, the EEOC refused to take down the defamatory press release, even after its prosecution got dismissed in its entirety. In its ADA prosecutions, the EEOC is increasingly substituting its judgment for employers’ regarding essential job functions and what constitutes minimally effective job performance. Learn more here, http://www.bizjournals.com/denver/print-edition/2012/07/20/is-eeoc-too-aggressive.html

As an employment defense community, we need to stop scaring employers with the EEOC’s often-untrue press releases and start helping them fight back, particularly in the press. More here, http://eeolegalsolutions.com/in-our-brand-boycott-marketplace-the-eeocs-press-policy-should-alarm-employers/”

Good point, Merrily!