Wal-Mart Charged for Disability Bias
June 9, 2008
The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) has asked retail giant Wal-Mart to pay $250,000 and furnish significant injunctive relief to settle a disability discrimination lawsuit filed by the agency in behalf of its dismissed employee. Based on the allegations, Wal-Mart failed to accommodate and then fired a long-time pharmacy technician who suffered a disability resulting from a gunshot wound.
According to court records, Glenda D. Allen had been employed with the Arkansas-based company as a pharmacy technician since July 1993. In 1994, Allen was sustained a gunshot wound during a robbery which resulted in permanent damage to her spinal cord and other medical issues, including an abnormal gait requiring the use of a cane as an assistive device.
The EEOC charged that despite Allen’s successful job performance throughout her employment, Wal-Mart declared her incapable of performing her position with or without a reasonable accommodation, denied her a reasonable accommodation, and then unlawfully fired her because of her disability.
The lawsuit settled after the court denied Wal-Mart’s motion for summary judgment on March 10, and partially granted the EEOC’s cross-motion for summary judgment finding that Wal-Mart had no “undue hardship defense”.
Under the law, disability discrimination is a violation of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) provisions. The EEOC filed suit after first attempting to reach a voluntary settlement (1:06-CV-2514, filed in U.S. District Court for the District of Maryland).
Along with the monetary payment, the consent decree settling the suit requires Wal-Mart to undertake the following:
- Observe the ADA and post a notice to employees on the ADA
- Have all salaried supervisors and managers of its Abingdon stores and in pharmacies in the district that includes Abingdon complete training on the ADA with annual refresher training for the next three years
- Submit a list of all employees at the Abingdon store and the pharmacies in the Abingdon district who have been denied reasonable accommodation and/or complained that they have been unlawfully denied reasonable accommodation or terminated because of their disabilities.
- The EEOC will monitor the company’s compliance with the decree for the next three years. The agency enforces federal laws prohibiting employment discrimination.
This is the EEOC’s second settlement with Wal-Mart concerning the ADA this year.