In Equal Employment Opportunity Commission v. Ranew’s Management Co. Inc. et al., filed in the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Georgia, the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (“EEOC”) has alleged that a Georgia-based fabrication, coating, and assembly company illegally discriminated against its chief financial officer by firing him after he sought treatment for severe depression.
According to the EEOC’s complaint filed in January 2022, J. Bryant Beeland was fired in October of 2018. Beeland began working for Ranew’s Cos. LLC (“Ranew”) and several of its related businesses in 2011 and was Ranew’s CFO at the time of his termination.
The EEOC alleges that although company leadership expressed support for Beeland to seek treatment and encouraged him to take all the time necessary to heal, Beeland was not welcomed back after being cleared to return to work six weeks later. Instead, according to the EEOC complaint, the company CEO told Beeland, “How can I trust you to do my accounting work if you have another episode?” Beeland was fired soon after that, according to the suit.
The EEOC said Ranew’s conduct violates the Americans with Disabilities Act. Attempts to reach a pre-litigation settlement by the EEOC were unsuccessful. The suit asks the court to award Beeland back pay, front pay, compensatory damages, and punitive damages. It also asks for relief that bars the company from future discrimination.
“It is inexcusable and unlawful for an employer to base decisions about employees with disabilities on stereotypes and fears,” Marcus G. Keegan, regional attorney at the EEOC Atlanta district office, said in a statement. “The EEOC is seeking non-monetary relief, including training high-level executives and policy adjustments, to prevent this from happening in the future.”
Ranew provides industrial coatings, manufacturing, fabrication, product assembly, and integration to large and small companies. According to its website, the company has numerous industrial divisions and operates plants in three states.
The complaints also name companies that the EEOC says have “interrelated operations, common management, centralized control of labor relations, and common management and financial control” with Ranew’s Cos. and “constitute a single or integrated employer for purposes of the ADA.”
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