Texas Staffing Agency to Settle EEOC Disability Lawsuit

Peak Performers, incorporated as St. Vincent de Paul Rehabilitation Services of Texas, Inc., an Austin-based staffing agency providing staffing and recruitment services for workers with disabilities, agreed to pay $160,000 to a disabled former employee and institute significant reforms to settle a disability discrimination lawsuit filed by the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), the federal agency announced.

According to the EEOC’s lawsuit, following a suicide attempt resulting from mental health conditions, an executive assistant with a disability requested approximately four to six weeks of unpaid leave to receive outpatient medical treatment. The EEOC’s lawsuit alleged that even though executives at Peak Performers knew the executive assistant asked for time off to seek treatment for mental health-related disabilities, the company denied her brief, unpaid leave request and instead fired her in April 2024. Ultimately, the executive assistant completed her treatment and would have been able to return to her job within three weeks, according to the EEOC’s suit.

The type of conduct alleged in the complaint violates the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), which requires employers to make reasonable accommodations for the known disabilities of employees absent an undue hardship, and prohibits employers from terminating employees on the basis of their disabilities, including when their terminations are caused by the employers’ failure to provide a reasonable accommodation.

The EEOC filed suit (U.S. EEOC v. St. Vincent De Paul Rehabilitation Services of Texas, Inc. d/b/a Peak Performers, Case No. 1:25-cv-1551) in U.S. District Court for the Western District of Texas, Austin Division. The EEOC and Peak Performers subsequently agreed to settle the case before trial or any findings concerning EEOC’s claims, and on Jan. 6, the federal court approved the agreed two-year consent decree resolving the litigation.

In addition to paying $160,000 to the former executive assistant, the consent decree prohibits Peak Performers from engaging in disability discrimination, requires the organization to adopt and implement an ADA compliance policy with extensive procedures designed to protect rights of disabled workers, and mandates detailed ADA compliance training to human resources personnel and various decision-making officials.

Source: EEOC