EEOC Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) Case Resolutions Involving Individuals with Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities (I/DD)

The EEOC has filed lawsuits to help workers with I/DD who alleged job discrimination. Those cases began with workers filing charges with the EEOC. Here, you can read more about some EEOC case resolutions involving workers with I/DD.

Salvation Army, Ann Arbor, MI, 2023: In July 2023, the EEOC settled an ADA case with the Salvation Army, a charitable organization that runs thrift stores, to obtain relief for a worker with I/DD. According to the lawsuit, the organization allowed the individual, who worked successfully as a cashier for five months, to use a job coach during his probationary period. A new manager refused to allow the cashier to have additional job coaching, criticized him for his disability, punished him for minor mistakes, and then fired him shortly after new cashiers were hired. The two-and-a-half-year agreement required Salvation Army to pay the worker $25,000 for lost wages and other harm he experienced due to the discrimination and take steps to prevent discrimination, including issuing a written warning to the manager.
Press Release: Salvation Army Settles EEOC Disability Discrimination Lawsuit (7/12/23)

JDKD Enterprises, Deptford, NJ, 2022:  In December 2022, the EEOC settled an ADA case with JDKD Enterprises, a company that owns and operates numerous McDonald’s restaurants, to obtain relief for a worker who is on the autism spectrum. According to the lawsuit, the company fired the long-time worker because of his autism spectrum disorder only two months after the company purchased the restaurants. The employee had worked at several McDonald’s restaurants for 37 years and received several awards and praise for his excellent job performance. The two-year agreement included $100,000 to pay the worker for harm he experienced due to the discrimination and required the company to take steps to prevent discrimination.
Press Release: JDKD Enterprises Will Pay $100,000 to Settle EEOC Disability Discrimination Suit (12/16/22)

RCC Partners, Buckeye, AZ, 2022: In May 2022, the EEOC settled an ADA case with a company called RCC Partners, which operated a Subway sandwich shop, to obtain relief for a worker who needed accommodations because of his autism and Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD). The EEOC alleged that, from the time the individual applied for the job, the employer knew that he sought an accommodation of receiving specific instructions for tasks, redirection, and follow up to make sure he understood tasks, but the employer did not provide that accommodation. Instead, the employer fired him after only four shifts because of his disability and/or his need for accommodation. The settlement included $30,000 to pay the worker for the harm he experienced due to the discrimination and required the company to conduct training on disability discrimination.
Press Release: RCC Partners to Pay $30,000 to Settle EEOC Disability Discrimination Lawsuit  (5/10/22)

Walmart, Manitowac, WI, 2021: In July 2021, a jury in an ADA case filed by the EEOC on behalf of a long-term Walmart employee with Down syndrome determined that Walmart discriminated against her. The EEOC’s lawsuit alleged that Walmart denied the 16-year employee, who consistently received positive performance evaluations, the accommodations she needed after it changed her schedule, and then fired her because of her disability. The jury awarded the worker over $125 million in damages, which was later reduced due to legal limits on award amounts.
Press Release: Jury Awards Over $125 Million in EEOC Disability Discrimination Case Against Walmart (7/16/21)

Goodwill, New York, NY, 2019: In November 2019, the EEOC settled an ADA case with Goodwill Industries of Greater New York and Northern New Jersey, Inc., to obtain relief for a worker with a cognitive disability. According to the lawsuit, the employee, who worked in a janitorial program, had trouble navigating certain interactions with other employees and the public and needed additional training to understand the rules he needed to follow. The EEOC claimed that when the worker requested accommodation, his supervisor gave him written warnings, which the worker could not read or understand, and after the supervisor ignored the worker’s request for accommodation, the employer fired him. The settlement included $65,000 to pay the worker for lost wages and other harm due to the discrimination.
Press Release: Goodwill Industries to Pay $65,000 to Settle Disability Discrimination Lawsuit (11/18/19)

Walmart, Beloit, WI, 2019: In October 2019, a jury in an ADA case filed by the EEOC on behalf of a long-term Walmart employee, who has a developmental disability and is deaf, determined that Walmart discriminated against him. The individual worked for 16 years as a cart pusher, with the accommodation of a job coach. The EEOC alleged that, when a new manager started at the store, he required the worker to provide new medical paperwork to keep his reasonable accommodation, which the employee and his guardian provided. However, the new manager cut off communication and suspended the worker from his job. The jury awarded the worker $5.2 million in damages, which was later reduced due to legal limits on award amounts.
Press Release: Jury Awards $5.2 Million Against Walmart in EEOC Disability Discrimination Case (10/11/19)

Burger King, Lawton, OK, 2019: In August 2019, the EEOC settled an ADA case with the operators of a Burger King restaurant. According to the lawsuit, a worker with an intellectual disability applied for a job with the company as a dining room and bathroom attendant. The EEOC claimed that the employer took back the job offer it made to the worker because he had a job coach. The settlement included $30,000 to compensate the worker for lost wages and other harm he experienced due to the discrimination.
Press Release: Oklahoma Burger King Franchise to Pay $30,000 to Settle Disability Discrimination Lawsuit (8/22/19)

Party City, Nashua, NH, 2019: In April 2019, the EEOC settled an ADA case with Party City Corporation, which operates party supply stores. According to the lawsuit, a worker who is on the autism spectrum and experiences severe anxiety applied for a job with the company with the help of a job coach. The EEOC claimed that the employer’s hiring manager mistreated the worker and her job coach during the job interview, including expressing negative opinions about hiring people with disabilities with job coaches. The EEOC also claimed the hiring manager ended the job interview early. The agreement included $155,000 to pay the worker for the harm she experienced due to the discrimination.
Press Release: Party City to Pay $155,000 to Settle EEOC Disability Discrimination Lawsuit (4/22/19)

Work Services, Newberry, SC, 2018: In November 2018, the EEOC settled an ADA case filed in 2016 against Work Services, Inc, which supplied labor to a turkey-processing plant. EEOC’s lawsuit named six workers with I/DD who worked at the plant, lived at the company bunkhouse, and alleged they experienced workplace discrimination, including stolen wages and harassment. The agreement included $342,000 to compensate the workers for unpaid wages and the mental anguish, humiliation, inconvenience, and loss of enjoyment of life due to the harassment and discriminatory terms and conditions of employment they experienced.
Press Release: EEOC Sues Work Services, Inc. For Disability Discrimination (10/3/16)

Salvation Army, Wasilla, AK, 2018: In April 2018, the EEOC settled an ADA case with the Salvation Army, a charitable organization that runs thrift stores, to obtain relief for a worker with an intellectual disability. The EEOC alleged that the Salvation Army refused to hire the individual, who wanted to work as a donation attendant, because it assumed he would have problems interacting with the public. The agreement included $55,000 to pay the worker for lost wages and other harm he experienced due to the discrimination.
Press Release: Salvation Army to Pay $55,000 To Settle EEOC Disability Discrimination Lawsuit (4/3/18)

Papa John’s, Farmington, UT, 2017: In January 2017, the EEOC settled an ADA case with the owners of a Papa John’s Pizza restaurant to obtain relief for a worker with Down syndrome. According to the lawsuit, the employer fired the worker after a company official visited the restaurant and observed the individual working with the help of a job coach. The agreement included $125,000 for the worker for harm he experienced due to the discrimination.
Press Release: Papa John's Pizza To Pay $125,000 To Settle EEOC Disability Discrimination Lawsuit (1/26/17)

Walmart, Akron, OH, 2014: In March 2014, the EEOC settled an ADA case with Walmart to obtain relief for a worker with an intellectual disability. According to the lawsuit, the company allowed a coworker to sexually harass the worker for several years, despite several managers knowing about the harassment. The EEOC also alleged that Walmart fired the worker after she complained about the harassment to managers. The agreement included $363,419 to pay the worker for lost wages and other harm she experienced due to the discrimination.
Press Release: Wal-Mart to Pay $363,419 to Settle EEOC Sexual Harassment and Retaliation Suit (3/25/14)

Henry’s Turkey, West Liberty and Atalissa, IA, 2013: In May 2013, a jury determined that Hill Country Farms, Inc., which was operating as Henry’s Turkey Service, a turkey processing plant, violated the ADA when it discriminated against 32 workers with I/DD. The EEOC alleged that over a period of 20 years, Henry’s Turkey Service subjected these men to severe forms of exploitation, abuse, and discrimination that included stolen wages, harassment, and bad employment conditions, including poor housing; denial of medical care; and restrictions on travel, communicating, and socializing with other people. The company’s isolation, abuse, and control over the men constituted human trafficking. Through the lawsuit filed by the EEOC, the workers obtained multiple large awards. In 2012, before the trial, a federal judge awarded the workers $1,374,267 in back pay. In May 2013, a jury decided the workers should get $240 million for some of the pain and suffering they experienced. A judge later reduced that award to $1.6 million, because the law places a maximum amount on pain and suffering awards. In total, the workers with disabilities recovered approximately $3.4 million for the harms they experienced. Thanks to the EEOC’s lawsuit, the workers also recovered decades of lost Social Security benefits.
Press Release: Jury Awards $240 Million for Long-Term Abuse of Workers with Intellectual Disabilities (5/1/13)