Lawsuit: Allegheny Health Network failed to accommodate Cheswick nurse with asthma during pandemic

A Cheswick registered nurse is suing Allegheny Health Network because she said the health network discriminated against her and failed to accommodate her when the covid-19 pandemic began in the spring.

Samantha Eiler, who was hired by the health network in January 2019, was diagnosed with asthma when she was 4.

“(Allegheny Health Network) blatantly retaliated against Eiler due to her disability needs during an upper-respiratory global pandemic, when defendant refused to accommodate and then ultimately terminated Eiler,” the lawsuit said.

She is seeking back pay and reinstatement to her previous position.

The lawsuit, filed Thursday in federal court, also includes a claim for retaliation.

A message with an AHN spokesman was not immediately returned.

When Eiler was hired, the complaint said, her duties required minimal contact with patients. Instead, she handled outpatient office duties, phone and computer work.

At the onset of the pandemic, the lawsuit alleged, Eiler’s doctor advised her to work from home because her asthma put her at an increased risk for severe illness from covid.

The complaint said Eiler provided several letters from her doctor to her supervisors and sought accommodations to work from home, but they were all denied.

Eiler took a two-week “quarantine leave” from March 23 to April 6, during which time she hoped AHN would be able to set up a work-from-home scenario.

Instead, the lawsuit alleged, Eiler’s supervisors told her she needed to apply for short-term disability.

When she did, the complaint continued, she was told her application was denied.

Then, Eiler said, she thought she was off under the Family and Medical Leave Act from April 14 to May 1, but was later told she was ineligible because of “inconsistencies in her paperwork.”

“Defendant then informed Eiler that they had contacted her physician and agreed upon accommodations for her asthma, without Eiler’s permission or input, including sending a letter stating defendant had made arrangements to provide Eiler with a secluded office, allowing for no patient or employee contact,” the lawsuit said.

The terms of that agreement between AHN and her doctor, the complaint continued, included working in the office three days a week and from home on weekends.

However, when Eiler spoke to her doctor, the physician “adamantly denied having a conversation” with AHN or any network representative about accommodations for her.

On May 21, Eiler said that she was on a Zoom conference call with numerous employees when she learned her position had been eliminated.

“Upon further pressing from Eiler, defendant claimed that she had refused to comply with ADA accommodations and had missed work without obtaining proper authorization,” the lawsuit said.