A Vietnam vet and former Illinois Department of Transportation (IDOT) employee is suing IDOT for allegedly violating the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) when they refused to reassign him after his post-traumatic stress disorder was worsened from responding to car accidents and severely injured victims.
Fred J. Zimmerman says that he began his employment with IDOT in May of 2006 as a highway maintainer but was transferred to emergency traffic patrol (ETP), which required him to "respond to and clean up fatal car accidents and dead bodies."
Zimmerman's treating physician determined that his work in ETP severely exacerbated his post-traumatic stress disorder and he made a request in writing supported by medical opinion for a reasonable accommodation that Zimmerman be transferred to another position.
Continue reading after the jump, including a copy of the complaint.
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Vietnam vet sues IL Dept of Transportation for disability discrimination
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According to the complaint, IDOT refused the request and certain IDOT
employees began to make several harassing comments to Zimmerman such as
"You don't look disabled" as well as threats from a high ranking IDOT
official that "if he pushed this thing he would wind up on the street
on disability."
After months of harassment, Zimmerman filed a charge of discrimination
with EEOC and, after doing so, was treated more harshly than other
employees and was forced into unpaid non-occupational disability leave
in September of 2007, the complaint states.
2 26 10 Zimmerman v IDOT -
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