A manager allegedly said the heavy assignment was meant to 'test' her injured shoulder
A hospital denied a long-serving technician's injury accommodation, returned her to heavy lifting, then fired her days after she objected, a lawsuit alleges.
NYU Hospitals Center is being sued by a former sterile processing technician who says the hospital refused her doctor-certified lifting limit, sent her back to physically demanding work, and fired her after nearly 25 years on the job.
The complaint, filed September 9, 2026 in the US District Court for the Southern District of New York, brings disability discrimination, failure-to-accommodate and retaliation claims under the Americans with Disabilities Act and New York's state and city human rights laws.
According to the filing, the technician spent almost a quarter-century sterilizing surgical instruments, with steady performance reviews and no disciplinary record. Her job also meant loading and unloading sterilization machines on a rotation.
Her troubles began with a rotator cuff injury in 2023, the complaint says, followed by a neck and shoulder injury in March 2024 that she says happened when a tray became stuck. Her doctor certified that she could keep working within limits - most recently a cap of 25 pounds on pulling and lifting.
That restriction is where the dispute centers. While she was on leave, the hospital denied at least two requests to return with accommodations, the filing says, and later told her she could not come...
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