After seven years of litigation, AFGE Local 1923 in Baltimore along with the National Federation of the Blind finally won a $9.98 million class action settlement for 570 current and former Social Security Administration employees with disabilities. The employees had applied for and made a Best Qualified List for promotion but were not selected.
“Many disabled employees at SSA have been held back from contributing fully to the important work SSA does because of discrimination and attitudinal barriers,” said the lead class representative Ronald Jantz. “With this settlement agreement, SSA demonstrates its commitment to ensuring equal opportunity employment for all employees by empowering all employees to perform their jobs well and rewarding those disabled employees that are qualified for promotions.”
The settlement also includes extensive improvements to SSA policies and processes, such as a new centralized reasonable accommodation office, accessible technology processes, and training. SSA has about 60,000 employees and is one of the largest federal employers of employees with disabilities.
