NEWARK, N.J. — Piscataway, New Jersey-based Novadoz Pharmaceuticals agreed to pay $166,666 to settle a 2025 charge alleging it denied an assistant manager’s request to work remotely because of her race, her American national origin and her disability, the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) announced today.

The EEOC’s charge investigation found reasonable cause that Novadoz approved Piscataway-based Indian employees to work remotely from India for personal reasons, but forced the American employee to take leave instead of allowing her to work remotely inside the U.S. The EEOC’s investigation further found reasonable cause to believe that Novadoz retaliated against the employee by forcing her to take leave and forcing her out of her job.

“An employer cannot force an individual to take leave when an alternative, reasonable accommodation would permit the employee to continue working, and the decision of whether an employee can work remotely should not turn on that employee’s race or national origin,” said Arlean Nieto, acting director of the EEOC’s New York District. “We appreciate Novadoz’s cooperation throughout this process and their commitment to assuring compliance with the requirements of federal law, including Title VII and the ADA.”

The alleged actions violate both the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), which requires a reasonable accommodation for disabilities, absent undue hardship, and Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which prohibits discrimination based on race and national origin.

Following the EEOC’s investigation, the parties engaged in the EEOC’s pre-litigation conciliation process, resulting in a conciliation agreement which provides $116,666 in monetary relief to the aggrieved employee. It also requires Novadoz and related company MSN Pharmaceuticals LLC to revise their anti‑discrimination and reasonable accommodation policies; adopt a complaint procedure to encourage prompt and effective reporting of discrimination; conduct targeted trainings on Title VII and the ADA; and report to the EEOC regarding accommodation requests and discrimination complaints over the next two years.

For more information on race and color and national origin discrimination, please visit https://www.eeoc.gov/racecolor-discrimination and https://www.eeoc.gov/national-origin-discrimination. For more information on disability discrimination in the workplace, including reasonable accommodations, visit https://www.eeoc.gov/eeoc-disability-related-resources. For more information on retaliation, please visit https://www.eeoc.gov/retaliation.

The EEOC’s New York District Office has jurisdiction over New York, northern New Jersey, Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Vermont.

The EEOC is the sole federal agency authorized to investigate and litigate against businesses and other private sector employers for violations of federal laws prohibiting employment discrimination. For public sector employers, the EEOC shares jurisdiction with the Department of Justice’s Civil Rights Division. The EEOC also is responsible for coordinating the federal government’s employment antidiscrimination effort. More information about the EEOC is available at www.eeoc.gov.