EDEN PRAIRIE — A Minnesota-based payroll servicing company is being sued by a federal agency for allegedly firing an employee because she needed crutches after surgery.

The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission said in a release it filed a lawsuit Wednesday accusing Employer Solutions Group LLC of violating the Americans with Disabilities Act. The suit says the Eden Prairie company discriminated against the employee based on her actual and perceived liability, and also retaliated against her request to work with crutches. The employee had surgery for a torn knee ligament.

Officials with Employer Solutions Group declined to be interviewed Thursday by The Associated Press.

Julianne Bowman, a district director for the EEOC, called the firing “inappropriate, short-sighted and unlawful.”