Nature’s Herbs & Wellness Center to Pay $95,000 In EEOC Disability And Retaliation Case

DENVER – Nature’s Herb and Wellness Center, doing business as High Plainz Strains, a Colorado marijuana retailer with seven retail stores, will pay $95,000 to settle a disability and retaliation discrimination lawsuit brought by the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), the federal agency announced today.  

According to the EEOC’s lawsuit, Nature’s Herbs failed to reasonably accommodate a budtender’s disabilities after she disclosed her disabilities to her manager and requested accommodation. When the employee complained about disability discrimination, Nature’s Herbs suspended her without pay and later fired her. In internal communications regarding the employee’s termination, the owner of Nature’s Herbs instructed human resources to “cut [the employee] loose” because she did not disclose her disabilities when she was hired, and the human resources manager referred to the employee as a “fruitcake.”

Such alleged conduct violated the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), which prohibits discrimination based on disability. The EEOC filed suit (EEOC v. Nature’s Herbs & Wellness Center d/b/a High Plainz Strains, Case No. 1:24-cv-02706-NYW), in U.S. District Court for the District of Colorado after first attempting to reach a pre-litigation settlement through its conciliation process. Shortly after EEOC filed suit, the parties successfully resolved the case through a consent decree.

Under the terms of the consent decree settling the suit, Nature’s Herbs will pay the employee $95,000 in back pay and compensatory damages. The decree also requires Nature’s Herbs not to discriminate based on disability or retaliate against workers in the future, and it requires the company to revise its policies and practices to ensure it provides reasonable accommodations to individuals with disabilities. Nature’s Herbs will also provide annual training on the ADA to employees in all seven locations and report to the EEOC on any complaints of disability discrimination during the decree’s two-year term.

“We appreciate Nature’s Herbs’ efforts toward resolving this case in a way that will require it to improve its trainings, policies and procedures,” said Mary Jo O’Neill, the regional attorney in the EEOC’s Phoenix Office. “Employees are not required to disclose their disabilities when they are hired by an employer, but when an employee does disclose and requests an accommodation, employers are required to engage in the interactive process with the employee and are prohibited from taking adverse action against them for this.”

Amy Burkholder, field director of the EEOC’s Denver Field Office, said, “Employers are prohibited from retaliating against employees who request accommodations or complain about discrimination. When employers engage in this conduct, the EEOC will not hesitate to hold them accountable.”

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

The EEOC’s Denver Field Office is one of three offices in the EEOC Phoenix District Office, which has jurisdiction over Arizona, Colorado, northern New Mexico, Utah and Wyoming.

The EEOC prevents and remedies unlawful employment discrimination and advances equal opportunity for all. More information is available at www.eeoc.gov. Stay connected with the latest EEOC news by subscribing to our email updates.