Last September, the EEOC sued a Chicago residential house cleaning service for disability discrimination under the ADA, claiming that it harassed an employee who “walks with an abnormal gait as a result of a stroke.”

The president of the company allegedly called the employee a “cripple,” “mockingly imitated the way she walks, and told her that she was being a ‘hysterical basket case’” when she complained. He also acknowledged asking the employee, ‘Are you crippled?’”

The last question was claimed by the EEOC to be a prohibited disability-related inquiry.

The EEOC has now reported that the Court just denied the employer’s motion to dismiss, which contended that the alleged conduct was not severe or pervasive sufficient to make out as claim of hostile work environment.

An EEOC attorney said that “Harassment of any employee on account of his or her race, national origin, disability status, or any other condition irrelevant to the job is a terrible reflection upon those who engage in it – it just exposes their own ignorance and cruelty.  Further, it is illegal. …”

The EEOC is hot on the trail of alleged ADA violators.  Learn from this extreme example.