Nearly 1,000 people expressed their feelings on Facebook, more than 100 wrote deeply sympathetic comments, and 12 shared similar experiences of being subjected to disability discrimination at Ameriserve.
Two former Ameriserve employees offered to provide sworn statements attesting that they too were fired because of their disabilities.
One former employee states that her severe food allergy—known to management at Ameriserve—went ignored despite multiple reminders that exposure to the food would trigger anaphylactic shock and potentially death. She states that one supervisor at Ameriserve—whose mission is to help people with disabilities—“told me I could deal with the fact that I was going to be exposed . . . or quit.”
She ultimately experienced anaphylaxis on the job, and had to quit to stay alive. In her sworn statement she says,
“Ameriserve lacks respect for people with disabilities, which is ironic, because those are the people it is supposed to serve.”
Another disabled employee was terminated after failing a physical examination bearing no relation to her job function, despite the employee’s notifying Ameriserve of her physical disability upon being hired. Such conduct is prohibited under the Americans with Disabilities Act.
The terminated employee states in her sworn declaration that in her exit interview she reminded her managers that they had promised her accommodations for her disability: “I told [them they] strung me along, when in fact they made no effort to accommodate, and I could have been looking for other work.”
She states further that the response was “We’re sorry.” “No one claimed I had failed in some way to do a good job. I just didn’t pass the [physical] test.”
In the two weeks before her termination, she observed, “I was making progress helping one of the residents with his ability to self-regulate, and I had developed working relationships with the other residents.”
The employees’ sworn statements were in response to a Facebook posting only in Iowa. This firm has spoken with news organizations about the Charges filed with the EEOC.
Anyone who has experienced or witnessed discrimination at Ameriserve is encouraged to contact Friedman & Houlding LLP.