The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) recently announced court approval of a $6,200,000 settlement in the landmark Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) litigation between the EEOC and Sears, Roebuck & Co.  In its lawsuit against Sears, the EEOC had alleged that Sears had an inflexible workers’ compensation leave exhaustion policy and terminated employees instead of providing them with reasonable accommodations for their disabilities, violating the ADA.  The case resulted in the largest ADA settlement in a single lawsuit in EEOC history.

The EEOC found that 235 individuals were eligible to share in the settlement.  The average award was approximately $26,300.  The EEOC has indicated that it intends to go after incidences of significant systemic discrimination.  This certainly is evidence of that.