The Attendance Point That Led to a $99,000 Settlement
A JCPenney warehouse employee was undergoing treatment for breast cancer.
She needed time away from work for medical appointments.
According to the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, the employee requested an accommodation and provided supporting medical documentation.
Her request was denied.
Her treatment-related absences were then counted under the company’s attendance-points policy.
When she accumulated more points than the policy allowed, she was terminated.
On paper, the process may have looked straightforward:
An employee missed work.
Attendance points were assigned.
The employee reached the termination threshold.
But the situation was not simply an attendance issue.
It involved a medical condition, a request for an accommodation and information that should have triggered a closer review before discipline was finalized.
The result was a $99,000 EEOC settlement, along with required manager training and a new review process before certain termination decisions are made.
The attendance policy identified the issue.
It should not have made the final call.
The Real Lesson for Employers
This story is not about eliminating attendance policies.
Attendance expectations matter.
Consistent documentation matters.
Managers need a clear process for addressing missed work and performance concerns.
But even a consistently applied policy can create risk when it is used without considering the circumstances behind an absence.
An employee may not use formal legal language when raising a medical concern.
They may simply say:
“I need time off for treatment.”
“My doctor changed my restrictions.”
“I have several upcoming appointments.”
“I’m struggling because of a medical condition.”
“Can my schedule be adjusted?”
Those statements may be enough to signal that HR needs to become involved.
The problem is not always the policy.
The problem is allowing the policy to move faster than the review process.
In this case, the breakdown was not the existence of attendance points.
It was making the employment decision before the company had fully addressed the possible accommodation issue.
3 Discipline and Attendance Takeaways for Employers
1. Teach managers to recognize accommodation signals
Employees do not need to say, “I am requesting a reasonable accommodation under the ADA,” for a medical concern to require attention.
Managers should know that references to treatment, medical appointments, restrictions, recovery or changes needed at work may require an HR review.
The manager does not need to determine whether the employee qualifies for an accommodation.
The manager needs to know when to pause and involve HR.
2. Add an HR review before high-risk decisions
Attendance systems can help track patterns and apply expectations consistently.
They should not automatically trigger suspension or termination when medical leave, disability, pregnancy, workers’ compensation or another protected issue may be involved.
Before final discipline, employers should verify:
Whether a leave or accommodation request is pending
Whether supporting documentation has been received
Whether the absences may be protected
Whether the employee has raised a medical concern
Whether HR has reviewed the complete situation
A short review before the decision can prevent a much larger problem afterward.
3. Review the process behind the policy
A policy can be well written and still be applied poorly. Employers should look beyond what the handbook says and examine what managers actually do when an employee reaches an attendance threshold.
Ask:
Who reviews the decision?
What questions are managers expected to ask?
Where are medical concerns documented?
How are pending requests communicated?
Can discipline be paused while HR gathers information?
The safest process is not one that ignores attendance rules. It is one that includes a clear checkpoint before the final call.