Salvation Army Settles EEOC Disability Discrimination Lawsuit

DETROIT – The Salvation Army will pay $25,000 to settle a lawsuit filed by the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) to obtain relief for a former employee of the charitable organization’s Ann Arbor thrift store who was discriminated against due to his disability, the federal agency announced today.

According to the lawsuit, the employee was permitted to use a job coach during his probationary period and had been working successfully as a cashier for five months until a new store manager was transferred to the Ann Arbor store. The new store manager demonstrated immediate animus towards the cashier, including chastising him for disability-related involuntary movements and refusing to allow additional job coaching. The manager disciplined the cashier for minor mistakes and then fired him shortly after new cashiers were hired.

Such alleged conduct violates the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). After first attempting to reach a pre-litigation settlement through the agency’s administrative conciliation process, the EEOC filed suit against The Salvation Army in U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan (Case No: 2:22-cv-11973).

The two-and-a-half-year consent decree resolving the lawsuit requires The Salvation Army to pay a total of $25,000 in back pay and compensatory damages to the disabled employee. In addition, The Salvation Army must provide annual training to management at the Ann Arbor store, submit annual reports to the EEOC, and issue a written warning to the store manager who terminated the employee.

“Employers need to make sure that new managers understand their obligations under the Americans with Disabilities Act,” said Kenneth Bird, regional attorney for the EEOC’s Indianapolis District. “While the misconduct in this case was limited to one new store manager, it had significant repercussions on the disabled employee. The EEOC will continue to hold all employers, even charitable organizations, accountable for violations of the ADA.”

For more information on disability discrimination, please visit https://www.eeoc.gov/disability-discrimination.

The EEOC’s Indianapolis District Office oversees Michigan, Indiana, Kentucky, and parts of Ohio.

The EEOC advances opportunity in the workplace by enforcing federal laws prohibiting employment discrimination. More information is available at www.eeoc.gov. Stay connected with the latest EEOC news by subscribing to our email updates.