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WASHINGTON, D.C. -- The Justice Department today sued a Northern Indiana town for retaliating against an employee who filed a charge of discrimination.

The suit, filed in U.S. District Court in Hammond, Indiana, alleges that the town of New Chicago, Indiana, violated the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) when it terminated Karen Smith, a former dispatcher in the town's police department, because she had filed a complaint with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) against the town under the ADA.

"The Department is committed to protecting the right of individuals to raise legitimate concerns about discrimination in the workplace without fear of reprisal," said Bill Lann Lee, Acting Assistant Attorney General for Civil Rights.

In April 1997, Smith filed a charge of discrimination against the town, alleging that the town had discriminated against her during a dispute about the town's employee health insurance plan. After learning that she had filed the charge, the town, acting primarily through its chief of police, began to take a series of actions against her, including subjecting her to unreasonable scrutiny, reprimands, and suspensions. The police chief also refused to talk to her about the alleged deficiencies with her work performance and ultimately filed formal charges against her. As a result of those charges, Smith was terminated from her dispatcher job in February 1998.

After becoming aware that the town was attempting to fire her, Ms. Smith filed additional charges with the EEOC's Indianapolis office accusing the town of retaliation. Thereafter, the EEOC referred those charges to the Justice Department after determining that there was reasonable cause to believe the town had retaliated against Ms. Smith in violation of the ADA. After an investigation by the Justice Department, the town was informed that it had violated the ADA. The Justice Department did attempt to resolve the dispute through negotiations before filing suit.

The ADA prohibits public and private employers from taking adverse action against any employee who attempts to assert rights under the ADA, and retaliation itself is a form of discrimination. While the EEOC initially handles all individual cases of discrimination, it refers cases alleging discrimination by a state or local government employer to the Justice Department.