A jury ordered SHRM to pay $400,000 after finding that the HR industry group violated disability laws when it withdrew an applicant’s offer following her request to bring a medical service dog to work.
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The global authority on the workplace has another HR violation. This time, it’s for allegedly revoking a job offer because the applicant wanted to bring her service dog to work.
SHRM, formerly The Society for Human Resource Management, was ordered by a court to pay $400,000 for violating the Americans with Disabilities Act and the Virginia Human Rights Act, according to legal documents filed on Tuesday. This lawsuit marks the second time in less than a year that the human resources industry group has been found liable in a workplace lawsuit.
This recent lawsuit was filed back in 2024 when Fiona Torres alleged that SHRM extended her a job offer for a senior specialist in its product management department in June 2024—only to take it back a month later when she requested to bring her medical service dog to the office, Business Insider reports. Torres is diabetic and told her prospective employer that the dog can detect changes in her blood glucose levels much faster and more reliably than a glucose monitor.
SHRM didn’t grant her request. The organization said in January court filings that the organization attempted to provide “multiple accommodations,” other than what the employee requested. They including allowing her to always use her glucose monitoring system and insulin pump at work, the freedom to take necessary breaks to check blood sugar levels, and to eat and drink at her workstation as needed.
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SHRM did not respond to requests for comment, but a written statement appears on the organization’s website.
“This case carries implications well beyond SHRM,” the industry group wrote. “If today’s verdict becomes precedent for the principle that an employer must always capitulate to an employee’s exact preferred accommodation, the interactive process the ADA was built around ceases to function. We are evaluating all appellate options to protect not just our own position, but the operational rights of HR departments and employers nationwide.”
Torres’ lawyer, Mary Kuntz, is thrilled with the verdict, saying it serves as a warning to other employers to do their due diligence with disability requests.