Sears settles bias case for record $6.2 million

Hoffman Estates, Ill. Sears Holdings Corp. has agreed to pay a record $6.2 million to settle claims that it illegally fired disabled employees.

According to the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, the settlement is the largest it has reached in a single case under the Americans With Disabilities Act.

The EEOC claimed Sears terminated hundreds of employees who took workers' compensation leave after being injured on the job. The lawsuit alleged that Sears failed to offer injured workers a reasonable accommodation that would have allowed them to return to work.

A consent decree approving the settlement requires Sears to abide by the ADA and change its workers' compensation leave policy.