Raleigh ed-tech company pays six figures to resolve EEOC disability discrimination charge

A Raleigh-based education technology company has agreed to pay $150,000 in compensatory damages and back pay to resolve a disability discrimination investigation by the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, according to a July 29 press release from the EEOC’s Office of Communications & Legislative Affairs.

VitalSource Technologies, LLC entered into a conciliation agreement with the EEOC without admitting liability, the release said. The EEOC’s investigation found reasonable cause to believe the company terminated an employee in June 2024 because of medical absences and exhaustion of paid leave, despite being aware that she had been hospitalized and had requested leave to cover her absences and anticipated recovery, according to the release.

“An employer must consider providing unpaid leave as a reasonable accommodation so long as it does not create an undue hardship for the employer,” said EEOC Raleigh Area Office Director Johnnie Barrett. “The purpose of the ADA‘s reasonable accommodation obligation is to require employers to change the way things are customarily done to enable employees with disabilities to work.”

Such conduct, if proven, would violate the Americans with Disabilities Act, which prohibits discrimination against qualified individuals with disabilities and requires employers to provide reasonable accommodations unless doing so would create an undue hardship, the release said.

In addition to the $150,000 payment, VitalSource is required to maintain nondiscrimination policies, conduct training on reasonable disability accommodations for employees, managers and human resources personnel, post a notice of equal employment opportunity rights, and report its compliance progress to the EEOC for one year, according to the release.