US Equal Employment
Opportunity Commission
LA CRUZ AZUL (BLUE CROSS) OF PUERTO RICO TO PAY
$200,00 IN DISABILITY DISCRIMINATION LAWSUIT
Largest EEOC Disability Discrimination Settlement
Ever in Puerto Rico
San Juan, PR -- The US Equal Employment Opportunity
Commission (EEOC) announced its largest settlement ever of a disability discrimination
lawsuit in Puerto Rico, garnering $200,000 for one individual in a case against
La Cruz Azul (Blue Cross) de Puerto Rico for allegedly violating Title I of the
Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) by limiting health insurance coverage for
AIDS and AIDS-related conditions. The
Honorable Hector Lafitte, Chief District Judge of the US District Court of
Puerto Rico, approved the settlement.
The monetary relief will be paid to Gerald E.
Spillman, Jr., an employee of Cornell University at the Observatorio de Arecibo
in San Juan, to settle the lawsuit filed by the EEOC on his behalf in April
1999. The lawsuit charged that La Cruz
Azul, as an insurance carrier, violated the ADA by providing Cornell University
with an employee health insurance plan that excluded coverage of medical
services obtained outside Puerto Rico relating to AIDS AND AIDS related
illnesses but which included coverage for all other catastrophic illnesses
obtained outside the Commonwealth.
"La Cruz Azul provided no evidence of a legitimate
business reason for treating AIDS and related conditions differently from other
catastrophic illnesses for which medical attention is sought outside Puerto
Rico," said EEOC Chairwoman Ida L. Castro. "This Decree sends a clear message to all employers and
their insurance providers that they cannot discriminate against people with
disabilities by arbitrarily limiting health benefits. If they do, the EEOC will step in to protect those
individuals."
In addition to compensating Mr. Spillman for the discrimination
he suffered, La Cruz Azul agreed to eliminate the discriminatory provision from
health insurance plans it offers employers in the future and to implement
policies and procedures to eliminate disability discrimination generally in its
health plans and workplace. The
agreement, entered in the form of a Consent Decree, will be in effect for five
years, during which time the EEOC will monitor the company's compliance with
its provisions. Although, La Cruz Azul
denied the allegations in the lawsuit, it signed the Decree and entered into an
agreement with the EEOC.
Spencer H. Lewis, Director of the EEOC's New York
District Office, which enforces the federal anti-discrimination laws in Puerto
Rico, emphasized that nondiscrimination in health benefits is particularly
crucial for workers with catastrophic illnesses such as AIDS. "The EEOC will seek full relief against
entities who discriminate," he said.
Since 1992, EEOC has received a cumulative total of
over 2,400 ADA charges alleging disability bias due to AIDS/HIV, about 2% of
all ADA charge filings, and obtained over $22 million for victims of such
discrimination.
In addition to enforcing Title I of the ADA, which
prohibits discrimination against people with disabilities in the private
sector, state and local governments, the EEOC enforces Title VII of the Civil
Rights Act of 1964, which prohibits employment discrimination based on race,
color, religion, sex or national origin; the Equal Pay Act; prohibitions
against discrimination affecting individuals with disabilities in the federal
sector; sections of the Civil Rights Act of 1991; and the Age Discrimination in
Employment Act. Further Information
about the Commission is available on the agency's Web site at www.eeoc.gov.