Last updated October 26, 2026
If you manage people, two new federal lawsuits are worth five minutes of your time. In the past week, the EEOC sued BNSF Railway and Solera Holdings, and both cases come down to what an employer does after it learns about an employee’s medical condition. These are allegations, not court findings. Neither company has been found liable.
The lessons are practical, and they apply whether you have 15 employees or 1,500. They also sit squarely inside the process we cover in our guide to the ADA interactive process and reasonable accommodation.
Key takeaways
- A request made during training is still an accommodation request.
- A simple equipment change may be all an employee is asking for. Consider it before you consider termination.
- Remote employees are entitled to the same products, leads, meetings, and training as their peers.
- If the employer helped create the performance problem, a termination based on that performance is risky. Have HR review it first.
The BNSF Case: A Smaller-Handled Tool
On October 19, 2026, the EEOC filed EEOC v. BNSF Railway Co. in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois. According to the EEOC’s press release, the employee has Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome, a genetic condition that can cause painful joints. BNSF hired him as a laborer in Chicago in April 2023.
The EEOC alleges that during required field training, he developed hand pain from using a large spike maul for an extended period. He asked to use a smaller-handled maul, the kind a supervisor used. The agency says BNSF refused, offered no alternative, and fired him. The EEOC alleges disability discrimination, failure to accommodate, and retaliation for requesting an accommodation, and seeks back pay, compensatory and punitive damages, and an order to prevent similar conduct.
“Employers must engage in the interactive process rather than choosing to terminate workers who request accommodations.”
Christopher Lage, Deputy General Counsel, EEOC
What it means for you: a request does not have to arrive in an HR office or use legal language. An employee who asks for a different tool in the middle of training has made a request. The next step is a conversation about what would work, not a decision to end employment. Many accommodations involve a change this small.
The Solera Case: Set Up to Fail?
On October 20, 2026, the EEOC filed suit against Solera Holdings, LLC in the U.S. District Court for the District of Maryland. The EEOC’s press release describes a longtime employee with a degenerative eye disease who is blind and worked remotely from his home in Maryland.
The EEOC alleges that Solera moved him from a consultant role to a sales position because of his eye disease, then limited his chances to succeed. He could sell only one product, received no sales leads, and was excluded from meetings and trainings. The agency says those limits hurt his sales results, and that Solera then pointed to his performance to justify firing him in August 2025. The EEOC alleges disability discrimination under the ADA. The press release does not state what relief the agency is seeking.
What it means for you: performance is only a safe reason for termination if the employee had a fair chance to perform. If an employee with a known condition has fewer tools, fewer leads, or less training than peers, the numbers may reflect the setup rather than the person. Remote employees are included. Out of sight is not a reason for out of the loop.
PRO TIP: Before you terminate anyone for performance, ask one question: did we give this person the same tools, training, and opportunities as everyone else? If the honest answer is no, stop and have HR review the file first.
What Employers Should Do Now
- Document the interactive process. Record the request, each conversation, the options you considered, and the decision. Our free documentation log was built for this.
- Consider equipment and training changes. A different tool, a modified training format, or extra time are common and often inexpensive.
- Provide comparable resources. Make sure employees with known medical conditions, including remote employees, have the same products, leads, meetings, and training as their peers.
- Review before you terminate. Have HR check whether the employer contributed to the performance problem, and whether an accommodation request or known condition is part of the story.
PRO TIP: Your managers are the weak point. Most accommodation claims start with a supervisor who handled a request informally. Tell every manager that any medical comment tied to the job goes to HR the same day. Don’t have an HR department? Get one here!
Who Reviews Your Terminations?
In many small and mid-size companies, a termination is decided by a manager and an owner in a single conversation. Our post on whether an owner can be sued for what a manager does explains why that is risky. Nobody asks whether the employee has a known medical condition, whether an accommodation was ever discussed, or whether the performance numbers tell the whole story. That is the gap these lawsuits describe. A written discipline and termination policy in your employee handbook gives managers a consistent starting point.
My Virtual HR Director acts as the HR department for dozens of employers. A senior team led by an SPHR and SHRM-SCP reviews terminations before they happen, runs the accommodation conversations, and keeps the documentation. Our employee terminations and discipline and HR compliance support are built for exactly this moment.
Have a termination or accommodation request on your desk?
Talk to a senior HR expert before you decide. A review now costs far less than a charge later.
Talk to an HR ExpertAbout This Update
This update was written by My Virtual HR Director, a New Jersey HR outsourcing firm led by an HR professional holding the SPHR and SHRM-SCP credentials, with HR experience since 1996. Details come from the EEOC’s October 19 and October 20, 2026 press releases. The cases are in early stages, and the allegations have not been proven.
This article is general information for employers and is not legal advice. Laws change, and the right answer depends on the facts. Consult employment counsel on high-risk decisions, including denials and terminations.
