“…Â the 51-year-old (woman)Â filed a federal lawsuit alleging that the Paddle Wheel Inn violated the Americans with Disabilities Act by dismissing 
her without attempting to accommodate her need for a small oxygen tank…The lawsuit also alleged that earlier this year the inn fired Colvin’s daughter, who also worked at the hotel as a desk clerk, just one day after the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission substantiated Colvin’s claim of discrimination…Barry Taylor, Colvin’s attorney, said that under federal law the inn had an obligation to work with Colvin on a reasonable accommodation for her disability and should not have jumped to any conclusions about whether she would be able to perform her duties…”
Donna Colvin loved her job as the overnight desk clerk at the Paddle Wheel Inn, especially the quiet hours spent tidying the lobby and laying out the morning’s continental breakfast while guests were still fast asleep.
Even when respiratory ailments briefly sidelined her two years ago, Colvin was determined to keep working at the charming inn, situated on the banks of the Rock River about 90 miles west of Chicago. Heeding her doctor’s advice, Colvin informed the inn’s manager that she would have to be on oxygen while she worked. The next day, she learned by letter that she had been fired.
The suit contended the inn lied in its dismissal letter by telling Colvin she was being let go because she had failed to cover her shifts during several brief stints in the hospital.
“To assume that someone, just because they’re using oxygen, would be bad for business is really a knee-jerk reaction that is unwarranted,” said Taylor, an attorney for Equip for Equality, a disability rights legal advocacy organization based in Chicago.
For more:Â http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/ct-met-disabilities-lawsuit-20131004,0,2456004.story
