19-03-2025
Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission to pay over $71k in discrimination case
PENNSYLVANIA (WTAJ) — The Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission (PUC) has been ordered to pay over $71,000 to a former worker as part of a disability and discrimination case.
The PUC was ordered to pay $71,560.42 and to continue paying the former employee for lost wages for up to one year. The Pennsylvania Human Relations Commission (PHRC) found the PUC discriminated against an employee based on their disability and failed to provide them with reasonable accommodations. They also noted that the working conditions were so intolerable that the employee was forced to resign.
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'This decision reaffirms the Pennsylvania Human Relations Commission's commitment to protecting the rights of employees with disabilities,' PHRC Executive Director Chad Dion Lassiter, MSW said. 'Employers have a legal and moral obligation to provide reasonable accommodations, and those that fail to do so will be held accountable under the law. We stand firm in our mission to ensure workplaces across the Commonwealth are free from discrimination.
Here's what the commission ordered for both parties:
The former employee will file semi-annual reports to PUC indicating the gross amount of earnings made during the previous six-month period, for a period of one year. If the amount they earned is less than what they would have earned as an employee of PUC, PUC shall pay the amount of gross earnings they would have earned with PUC minus their gross earnings during the relevant six-month period.
The former employee will also continue making good faith efforts to secure employment in mitigation of the damages.
PUC to cease and desist from denying reasonable accommodations to employees with disabilities and from otherwise discriminating against employees with disabilities.
PUC to attend mandatory training provided by the PHRC or by an entity approved by the PHRC.
PUC to implement policies requiring individualized assessments of the essential functions of a position prior to denying requests for reasonable accommodations.
The PHRC, the state's civil rights enforcement agency, urges anyone who has experienced acts of discrimination to file a complaint by calling 717-787-4410.
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