BATON ROUGE — An East Baton Rouge woman is suing Blue Cross, alleging she was fired because of a disability.
Catherine Jones filed a lawsuit May 23 in U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Louisiana against Blue Cross Blue Shield of Louisiana, alleging discrimination, retaliation, wrongful termination and violation of the Americans with Disabilities Act.
According to the complaint, in July 2013, Jones suffered a stroke, which caused her to loose partial vision in her right eye and numbness on her right side. The suit says the defendant did not meet her needs for reasonable accommodations.
As a result, the lawsuit states, Blue Shield gave Jones the option to resign or be terminated. In light of coercion, she chose to resign Dec. 24, 2014, the complaint says.
The plaintiff alleges the defendant threatened to terminate her employment for allegedly not meeting the speed quotas, failed to participate in an interactive process to accommodate her limitations, failed to consider reassigning her to a position that does not require quotas and failed to consider a reduction in her workload.
Jones seeks a trial by jury, declaration the defendant violated the ADA, damages plus interest, attorney fees, legal costs and any remedies that may be available. She is represented by attorney J. Arthur Smith, III of Smith Law Firm in Baton Rouge.
U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Louisiana Case number 3:16-cv-00340