JP settles disability suit

November 23, 2006

JP agrees to settle Bank One disability suit

From Bloomberg News

November 23, 2006

JP Chase & Co., the third-biggest U.S. bank, agreed to pay

$2.2 million to settle claims that the company's Bank One unit

discriminated against hundreds of employees on long-term medical

leave, the government said Wednesday.

The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission claimed Bank One,

which JP acquired in 2004, violated the Americans With

Disabilities Act by failing to properly accommodate employees whose

medical leaves exceeded six months.

It's the second settlement of EEOC charges in as many days by

JP, which employs about 171,500 people. The EEOC said Tuesday

that JP would pay $200,000 to settle claims that its Chase

Manhattan Bank unit fired an employee because of a speech

impairment.

" Chase is settling this case to resolve this matter expeditiously,

and also because this agreement reaffirms its commitment to

providing reasonable accommodations to its employees, " the bank said

in a statement.

Bank One had a policy of permitting employees who returned from

short-term disability within six months to keep their jobs, the EEOC

said in a statement. Employees who required more than six months of

disability leave were not guaranteed a place.

If the position had been filled, employees returning to work had 30

days to find other positions within Bank One or face termination,

the EEOC said. The disabilities act requires that employers

individually assess whether extra leave will help employees without

unduly hurting a company, the agency said.

The investigation into Bank One's policy began in March 2004.

JP took over negotiations with the EEOC after buying Bank One.

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