EEOC Sues Summit Hospitality Group for Disability Discrimination

RALEIGH, N.C. - Summit Hospitality Group, Ltd., doing business as Residence Inn Raleigh Downtown, violated federal law when it failed to accommodate an employee's disability and discharged him from employment when he was not able to return to work at 100% capacity, according to a lawsuit announced today by the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC).

According to the EEOC's lawsuit, in March 2024, an employee who worked at the Residence Inn Raleigh Downtown as a houseperson and laundry attendant since 2017, was injured in a bus collision. The employee notified Summit Hospitality Group, which approved his medical leave and scheduled his return to work on July 1, 2024.

As he approached his return date, the employee provided a note from his doctor advising he required modifications to his job duties, including a restriction of no "overhead activity/work and no lifting, pushing, pulling more than 20 lbs. at any time." Rather than engage in an interactive process with the employee, Summit Hospitality Group demanded a medical note stating that he was "released for full duty" and then terminated his employment, according to the suit.

"Employers are required to provide reasonable accommodations that enable an employee with a disability to perform the essential functions of the job if it does not cause undue hardship for the employer," said Melinda C. Dugas, regional attorney for the EEOC's Charlotte District. "Engaging in an interactive process with the employee to identify reasonable accommodations is a key component of that process, and should be a good-faith, collaborative dialogue between the employer and the employee."

This alleged conduct violated the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), which requires the accommodation of disabilities absent undue hardship, and prohibits employers from discharging an employee because of their disability or because they requested an accommodation. The EEOC filed suit (EEOC v. Summit Hospitality Group, Ltd., d/b/a Residence Inn Raleigh Downtown, Case No. 5:26-cv-00698-M) in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of North Carolina after first attempting to reach a pre-litigation settlement through its administrative conciliation process.

For more information on disability discrimination and resources on accommodations, please visit https://www.eeoc.gov/disability-discrimination and https://askjan.org/ .

The EEOC's Charlotte District Office has jurisdiction over North Carolina, South Carolina, and Virginia.

The EEOC is the sole federal agency authorized to investigate and litigate against businesses and other private sector employers for violations of federal laws prohibiting employment discrimination. For public sector employers, the EEOC shares jurisdiction with the Department of Justice's Civil Rights Division. The EEOC also is responsible for coordinating the federal government's employment antidiscrimination effort. More information about the EEOC is available at www.eeoc.gov .