Reasonable to Deny Pseudonymity to Plaintiff Who Seeks to Conceal That She Has Epilepsy
From today’s Eleventh Circuit opinion in Tessa G. v. Secretary, decided by Judges Adalberto Jordan, Robert Luck, and Embry Kidd:
In June 2023, Tessa G. filed a pro se complaint against HHS, her former employer, alleging disability discrimination, failure to accommodate, retaliation, illegal disclosure under the Americans with Disabilities Act, and deprivation of due process under the Fifth Amendment. In support of her complaint, Tessa G. explained that she has suffered from several disabilities, including epilepsy, for most of her life. Following surgical intervention that abated her seizures, she earned her law degree and began working with HHS in June 2013.
About a year into her tenure with HHS, Tessa G. disclosed her epilepsy diagnosis to request medical leave and inform her supervisor that she required an accommodation to be driven to any off-site meetings. Soon thereafter, HHS hired someone to replace Tessa G., gave her limited work to complete, and ultimately terminated her in November 2014. Tessa G. asserted that she found it difficult to find new employment and that she gained several new health conditions after her firing.
Tessa G. further explained that, shortly after her termination, she filed an Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (“EEOC”) complaint against HHS, challenging her demotion and termination, and alleging that HHS disparaged her to others in her field. Although an administrative law judge ultimately entered default judgment in her favor, her recovery was limited due to the nature of her fixed-term contract with HHS, so she brought the instant case to pursue further
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