CHARLOTTE — Whole Foods Market has reached a $65,000 settlement with the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) to resolve a lawsuit alleging the company fired an employee for missing work due to kidney impairment.
According to the EEOC, Whole Foods Market Group,Inc., doing business as Whole Foods Market, allegedly fired a cashier at its Raleigh, North Carolina, facility for missing work twice due to being hospitalized because of her kidney ailments. The cashier had told Whole Foods that she would need time off because of her kidney disease and 2009 kidney transplant, yet was still let go for her work absences, the EEOC said. The EEOC alleges Whole Foods' action violated the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA).
"An employer who is on notice that an employee's absence is related to her disability must comply with the ADA's mandate to reasonably accommodate her by making exceptions to its absenteeism policy if doing so doesn't cause an undue hardship," EEOC Charlotte District regional attorney Lynette Barnes said in a statement. "Ignoring federal anti-discrimination law only makes things worse for a company as well as employees."
The settlement also includes Whole Foods establishing a "disability accommodation" policy as well as providing ADA training to its South Region managers, supervisors and human resources employees.