FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
February 1, 2018
KENTUCKY
FRIED CHICKEN FRANCHISE TO PAY $30,000 TO SETTLE EEOC DISABIITY DISCRIMINATION
SUIT
Restaurant Owner Fired Employee for Taking Prescribed
Medications for Bipolar Disorder, Federal Agency Charged
ATLANTA – Hester Foods, Inc., the operator of a Kentucky
Fried Chicken restaurant in Dublin, Ga., will pay $30,000 to settle a
disability discrimination lawsuit filed by the U.S. Employment Opportunity
Commission (EEOC), the federal agency announced today.
The EEOC filed suit in 2017, charging that Hester Foods’
owner violated federal law by firing restaurant manager Cynthia Dunson in July
2015 when he found out that she was taking medications prescribed by her doctor
for her bipolar disorder. The restaurant owner referred to Dunson’s medications in obscene terms, the EEOC said,and made her
destroy her medications by flushing them down a toilet at the restaurant. When
Dunson later told the owner that she planned to continue taking the medications
per her doctor’s orders, the owner told her not to return to work and fired
her.
Such alleged conduct violates the Americans with
Disabilities Act (ADA). The EEOC filed suit (Civil Action No.
3:17-cv-000340-DHB-BKE) in U.S. District Court for the Southern District of
Georgia after first attempting to reach a pre-litigation settlement through its
conciliation process.
In addition to providing monetary damages to Dunson, the
consent decree settling the lawsuit requires Hester Foods to create and
disseminate a handbook containing policies that prohibit discrimination. The
decree also requires that the company provide annual equal employment
opportunity training to its managers, supervisors, and employees. The two-year
decree further requires the company to post a notice to its employees about the
lawsuit and to provide periodic reporting to EEOC about disability
discrimination complaints.
“Federal laws protect
employees whose disabilities require them to take medications and employers
must make accommodation for those requirements,” said Bernice
Williams-Kimbrough, director of the EEOC’s Atlanta District Office.
Antonette Sewell, regional
attorney for the Atlanta District Office, added, “Employers are not allowed to
force workers with disabilities to choose between their jobs and their health. Reasonable
accommodation includes allowing workers to rely on their physicians, not on the
opinions of the company managers.”
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.
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