Kroger to pay $75,000 to settle EEOC disability discrimination lawsuit

The Kroger Co. has agreed to a $75,000 settlement to resolve a federal lawsuit brought by the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) regarding disability discrimination and retaliation.

The lawsuit involved a cashier at a Kroger location in Atlanta’s Edgewood district. The employee, a breast cancer survivor with permanent nerve damage, requested to use a stool or chair as a reasonable accommodation for her disability. According to the EEOC, after providing medical documentation, the store stopped scheduling her for shifts and failed to respond to her communications.

Under the terms of a two-year consent decree, Kroger will pay the former employee $75,000 and implement several workplace compliance measures. These include updating complaint procedures, training managers and human resources personnel, posting workplace notices, and providing periodic reports to the EEOC to prevent future retaliation against employees seeking accommodations or exercising their rights.