New Mexico utility settles ADA lawsuit

The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission said Wednesday a New Mexico electric utility will pay $750,000 to settle a disability and retaliation lawsuit.

The agency said Albuquerque-based Public Service Co. of New Mexico implemented policies and practices that did not accommodate qualified employees with disabilities.

It said the utility fired employees because of their disabilities or in retaliation for opposing unlawful disability discrimination. This included not allowing employees who were returning from medical leave to come back to work unless they were released to “full duty” or “without medical restrictions.”

It also included placing employees who were unable to return to work without restrictions within 90 days on involuntary unpaid leave status and subsequently discharging them without considering possible reasonable accommodations. 

The utility also allegedly refused to reassign qualified employees with disabilities to vacant positions as a reasonable accommodation.

PNM was charged with violating the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990, as amended by the ADA Amendments Act of 2008. The parties resolved the case through a two-year consent decree shortly after the lawsuit was filed in U.S. District Court in Las Cruces, New Mexico, the EEOC’s statement said.

Under the decree’s terms, ten individuals will be paid a total of $750,000 in back pay and compensatory damages, among other provisions.

EEOC regional attorney Mary Jo O’Neill of the EEOC’s Phoenix district office, said the agreement will improve PNM’s training, policies and procedures. 

Attorneys for the utility did not respond to a request for comment.