The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) has filed a lawsuit against Criswell Chevrolet, Inc. in Maryland, alleging the company violated the Americans with Disabilities Act by denying a parts department worker with PTSD the reasonable accommodation of using a service dog and failing to provide alternative options. The EEOC claims the denial forced the employee to quit and is seeking damages and injunctive relief.
According to the EEOC, “Criswell Chevrolet, Inc., one of Maryland’s largest independent car dealership groups, violated federal law by refusing to allow a parts department worker to have a service dog at work as a reasonable accommodation for his post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) resulting from combat duty in the Iraq War, the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) charged in a lawsuit filed today.
According to the EEOC’s lawsuit, Criswell Chevrolet summarily denied the parts department worker’s request to bring a service dog to his workplace in order to help control his panic attacks brought on by PTSD. Criswell Chevrolet also refused to offer or propose alternative accommodations. The employer’s demand that the employee continue to work while suffering panic attacks, and without any accommodation to control or prevent the attacks, forced the employee to quit, the EEOC said.
Such alleged conduct violates the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), which prohibits employers from denying a reasonable accommodation absent undue hardship and without engaging in the interactive process. The EEOC filed suit in U.S. District Court for the District of Maryland (EEOC v. Criswell Chevrolet, Inc., Civil Action No. 8:25-cv-01632-TDC), after first attempting to reach a pre-litigation settlement through its conciliation process. The EEOC seeks back pay, compensatory damages and punitive damages for the employee, and injunctive relief to remedy and prevent future discrimination based on disability.
“Under the ADA, employers are required to reasonably accommodate workers with disabilities, unless they can show that the requested accommodation would pose an undue hardship,” said Debra Lawrence, regional attorney for the EEOC’s Philadelphia District Office. “Here, when an employer summarily refuses a reasonable accommodation and offers no follow-up interactive process, it has ignored its obligations under the ADA and has forced the worker to choose between suffering at work or leaving his job.”
Jamie Williamson, director of the EEOC’s Philadelphia District Office, said, “Employees suffering from PTSD are entitled to accommodations that would minimize their suffering or distress. The EEOC is committed to enforcing the ADA to protect the rights of all workers.”