Former Bank One Employees To Split $2.2 Million In Wrongful Termination Settlement
By Dave Reynolds, Inclusion Daily Express
November 29, 2006

CHICAGO, ILLINOIS--A group of 222 former Bank One Corp. workers, who claimed they were improperly fired when they took long-term disability leaves of more than six months, will split a $2.2 million settlement.

The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission and financial giant J.P. Morgan Chase and Co., which acquired Bank One in a 2004 merger, announced the settlement agreement in a joint press statement on November 22.

EEOC investigators alleged that the company violated the 1991 Americans with Disabilities Act by failing to work individually with the workers to determine what reasonable accommodations might be needed to help them stay employed. Instead, Bank One gave employees 30 days to find another job in the company or face termination.

In addition to the $2.2 million settlement, the company agreed to revise its policies to individually assess whether employees on disability leave should receive additional job protections or other accommodations. Chase will also provide training on the ADA and on the leave policy for all managers, human resources professionals, and employees of its Disability Management Services department.

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Reproduced here under special arrangement with Inclusion Daily Express international disability rights news service.
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