Oklahoma Driller to Pay $59K to Settle Disability Discrimination Suit

Helmerich & Payne Inc. (H&P), a Tulsa, Okla.-based drilling contractor, will pay a former employee $59,000 to settle a disability discrimination lawsuit brought by the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), the agency announced.

According to the EEOC’s lawsuit, the oil contractor forced a derrick hand at H&P’s Alice, Texas, location off the job because he was taking prescribed medications to treat chronic pain associated with a degenerative disk condition. The company ultimately fired the derrick hand, even though he had been deemed fit to return to work by his doctor.

The EEOC’s lawsuit also charged that H&P had engaged in unlawful disability-related inquiries and medical exams of employees and had required all employees to disclose prescribed medications and over-the-counter drugs to management.

The EEOC also challenged practices that essentially barred from employment workers who took prescribed medications that H&P deemed capable of impairing job performance, regardless of whether the employee was actually affected by the medication, and even when the employee was cleared to work on the medication by his or her doctor.

Such conduct violates the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA).

The EEOC filed suit, Civil Action No. 4:14-cv-00573-TCK-FHM, in U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Oklahoma, Tulsa Division, after the EEOC’s San Antonio Field Office attempted to reach a pre-litigation settlement through the agency’s conciliation process.

As part of the two-year consent decree resolving the suit, H&P will pay $59,000 to its former employee.

H&P also agreed to modify its written policies to achieve compliance with the ADA; provide training regarding the ADA; and post a notice referencing the consent decree.

Source: EEOC

Topics Lawsuits Oklahoma