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Gaithersburg storage facility Extra Space Management will pay $95,000 to settle a disability discrimination lawsuit filed by the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, according to an agency lawyer.

Extra Space fired a maintenance worker at its Earhart Court location in October 2006 after a manager made derogatory comments about the man's burn scars, said Maria Salacuse, senior trial attorney for the EEOC.

James L. Hill II of Takoma Park suffered severe burns in a house fire "years ago" and has scars across 85 percent of his body, Salacuse said. Hill is not physically disabled, she said, although he was at one time.

"The commission has not brought that many cases like this," Salacuse said Thursday, saying that under equal employment opportunity law, Hill is "disabled because of the physical scarring — which is a record of his disability — and others' attitudes toward him."

An e-mail confirmed that an acting district manager conducting an audit of the facility in September 2006 saw Hill, "noticed he was handicapped, deformed or something" and said "it's clear he can't get the job done."

Extra Space did not return calls for comment Thursday. The company did not admit liability in a consent decree settling the lawsuit.

The settlement requires all Extra Space staff at 15 locations in Maryland and Northern Virginia to undergo at least two hours of training on Americans with Disabilities Act rules and requirements. Also, Extra Space is to allow the EEOC to interview employees on-site for the next two years and provide ADA training for all new management staff within 30 days of starting work.