According to the lawsuit, the employee was permitted to use a job coach during his probationary period and had been working successfully as a cashier for five months until a new store manager was transferred to the Ann Arbor store. The new store manager demonstrated immediate animus towards the cashier, including chastising him for disability-related involuntary movements and refusing to allow additional job coaching. The manager disciplined the cashier for minor mistakes and then fired him shortly after new cashiers were hired.

Such alleged conduct violates the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). After first attempting to reach a pre-litigation settlement through the agency’s administrative conciliation process, the EEOC filed suit against The Salvation Army in U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan (Case No: 2:22-cv-11973).

The two-and-a-half-year consent decree resolving the lawsuit requires The Salvation Army to pay a total of $25,000 in back pay and compensatory damages to the disabled employee. In addition, The Salvation Army must provide annual training to management at the Ann Arbor store, submit annual reports to the EEOC, and issue a written warning to the store manager who terminated the employee.

“Employers need to make sure that new managers understand their obligations under the Americans with Disabilities Act,” said Kenneth Bird, regional attorney for the EEOC’s Indianapolis District. “While the misconduct, in this case, was limited to one new store manager, it had significant repercussions on the disabled employee. The EEOC will continue to hold all employers, even charitable organizations, accountable for violations of the ADA.”