The EEOC has announced that a federal court ruled that its lawsuit on behalf of a disabled sales manager employee could not be blocked. The ruling stems from a lawsuit brought by the EEOC against Autozone, one of the nation’s largest retailers of auto parts and accessories. The EEOC alleged the company violated the Americans With Disabilities Act (ADA) by refusing to reasonably accommodate a manager’s back and neck impairments. The company was unsuccessful in amending its answer to assert the EEOC was “judicially stopped” from claiming that the employee was capable of performing essential functions of the job with or without reasonable accommodation based on the employee’s statements to the Social Security Administration.
