Employers who have a policy that denies overtime to employees on light duty might want to think about changing that policy.

United Airlines agreed to settle a disability discrimination suit based on such a policy for $850,000, according to the EEOC. The EEOC asserted that United’s policy had an adverse impact on employees with disabilities because those workers are more likely to be assigned light duty.

Samuel Chetcuti, the lead plaintiff in the case, suffers from epilepsy. He was under medical restrictions that prevented him from operating heavy machinery but didn’t limit the number of hours he could work. Chetcuti was given light duty for his regular hours but then United barred him from working overtime even though his doctor had cleared it.

EEOC attorney William Tamayo said: “This blanket policy barring employees working with restrictions from overtime work had a disproportionate impact on workers with disabilities. It runs counter to the ADA’s goal that each employee be evaluated individually on whether they can get the job done, with or without an accommodation.”

Added EEOC District Director Michael Baldonado: “Disability does not mean inability. The ADA encourages us all to focus on opening doors to all a worker can do and discourages the closing of doors through restrictive stereotypes about disabilities, such as what you may think that person can do.”