Dealership told worker to stop taking her ADHD medication — then fired her, lawsuit says



Hayley Fowler
Fri, January 7, 2022

A former sales representative at a car dealership in Louisiana will get $100,000 from her one-time employer accused of firing her after roughly two months on the job.

The woman had ADHD and was prescribed Adderall, which she said played a role in her firing.

Honda of Covington agreed to pay the former employee back pay and damages after the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, a federal agency tasked with enforcing anti-discrimination laws in the workplace, filed a lawsuit on her behalf.

The suit accused the dealership of discriminating against her in violation of the Americans with Disabilities Act, a civil rights law that bars discrimination based on disability in all facets of public life, including employment.

A lawyer for Honda of Covington and a representative with the dealership did not immediately respond to McClatchy News’ request for comment on Jan. 7.

The EEOC first sued Honda of Covington in September 2020. Covington is in eastern Louisiana, across Lake Pontchartrain from New Orleans and about 85 miles west of Biloxi.

According to the lawsuit, the woman was hired as a sales consultant in August 2016. She reportedly told the dealership on her hiring form that she has Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder, or ADHD, which the Mayo Clinic says can cause “difficulty paying attention, hyperactivity and impulsive behavior.”

The woman also disclosed that she is prescribed Adderall as treatment.

Honda of Covington required the woman to take a drug test as a condition of her employment, which showed amphetamines in her system, the EEOC said. But a medical review officer confirmed they were the result of her Adderall prescription and she was cleared to start work.

About two months later, the woman’s husband got in a motorcycle accident and had to be hospitalized, according to the lawsuit. Her boss subsequently said she looked “emotional” at work and told her to stop taking her medication, the EEOC said.

“Understanding from these statements that (he) disapproved of her medication and fearing the loss of her job if she failed to comply, (the woman) decided not to take her medication on days she was scheduled to work a full day,” the complaint states.

The woman arrived for her next full-day shift without taking Adderall, the EEOC said.

According to the lawsuit, her boss pulled her aside that day and said she was “acting weird, off, and unfocused.” He asked her if she was taking her medication and then told her to take a drug test.

The woman went to a clinic the same day and got tested. Just as before, the EEOC said, the results came back positive for amphetamines.

A medical review officer asked for proof of her prescriptions a few days later on Oct. 14, 2016, which she provided, attorneys said.

But it was too late.

According to the complaint, Honda of Covington fired the woman before the review officer could confirm the amphetamines were a match for her Adderall prescription. Her termination was attributed to a positive drug test.

The woman said she told her boss the final results would show it was her medication for ADHD and questioned how the dealership would justify her firing.

“I don’t think that’s going to happen,” her boss reportedly said in response, the lawsuit states. “We’ll cross that bridge if we get there.”

The final results did, in fact, come back negative, the EEOC said. Still, the woman’s termination paperwork attributed the decision to drug use.

The woman filed a charge of discrimination shortly after she was fired and, in June 2019, the EEOC determined there was reason to believe Honda of Covington had discriminated against her based on her disability. The agency attempted to resolve the matter out of court before filing suit last year.

The dealership denied many of the allegations outlined in the complaint before reaching a settlement in December, court documents show.

In addition to the $100,000 payment, Honda of Covington agreed to conduct training and revise its policies to comply with the ADA and provide regular updates to the EEOC. A federal judge approved the agreement on Jan. 4.