National grocery chain Kroger Co. has settled a federal lawsuit alleging it failed to accommodate an employee with disability at the Edgewood Retail District location.
Under a two year consent decree, Kroger will pay $75,000 to a former cashier to settle a disability discrimination and retaliation lawsuit filed by the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC).
A breast cancer survivor, whose treatments caused permanent nerve damage to her lower extremities, was hired as a cashier. The employee requested to use a stool or chair during her shifts as an accommodation, providing medical documentation. When. the Edgewood Kroger store stopped scheduling her for shifts and ignored her repeated phone calls, she subsequently filed an internal complaint, according to the EEOC.
After several more months with no scheduled shifts, in July 2023 the employee filed a discrimination charge with the EEOC. The complaint states that Kroger deferred to the company’s legal department, and did not attempt to contact or schedule the employee.
Marcus G. Keegan, regional attorney for the EEOC’s Atlanta District, said an employee cannot be ignored for “reasonable accommodations for their disability.”
“We are pleased Kroger has agreed to conduct training and install other safeguards to prevent retaliation against employees who seek to enforce their rights through internal complaints or through the EEOC,” Keegan said.
Kroger’s alleged conduct violates the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), which prohibits disability discrimination and retaliation. The ADA also requires employers to provide reasonable accommodations for qualified individuals with disabilities, absent undue hardship. The EEOC filed suit in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Georgia after attempting to reach a pre-litigation settlement.
“Employers cannot shirk their legal obligations under the ADA. The EEOC remains committed to enforcing the ADA and protecting employees’ rights against disability discrimination,” Darrell E. Graham, director of the EEOC’s Atlanta District, said.
Kroger will also update its complaint procedures, provide disability accommodation training to store leaders and human resources personnel, and post workplace discrimination notice. The company will provide the EEOC with periodic reports regarding requests for disability accommodation and how the requests were handled.
