Schneider National, Inc., Green Bay, is accused of violating federal law by failing to reasonably accommodate an applicant with post-traumatic stress disorder by denying her request to bring her service dog to work, and withdrawing its job offer because of her disability, according to a lawsuit filed by the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission.
According to the lawsuit, Schneider National extended a conditional offer of employment to a qualified job candidate in the company’s Baltimore region in September 2023. The next day, after learning that she had post-traumatic stress disorder and needed her service dog, the company withdrew her job offer pending further review. In response to Schneider’s request for additional information, the woman disclosed that her dog was certified as a service animal, trained to alleviate and prevent symptoms of PTSD, and had successfully accompanied her in the truck while she trained and obtained her Class A commercial driver’s license. Schneider refused to allow her to drive with her service dog as an accommodation, the suit alleges.
“Under federal disability law, employers are required to reasonably accommodate workers with disabilities, absent an undue hardship,” said Debra Lawrence, regional attorney for the EEOC’s Philadelphia District Office. “An employer cannot sidestep these obligations by refusing to employ a qualified individual because they need reasonable accommodations.”
