Papa John’s Fired Blind Employee Who Asked to Convey Service Dog to Work: EEOC

• Papa John’s refused to let a blind employee convey his service canine to work, and fired him as an alternative, the EEOC stated.
• The employee wanted the canine to journey to work and had requested to maintain him in a again room throughout his shift, per the EEOC lawsuit.
• Papa John’s has agreed to pay the employee $175,000 to settle the disability-discrimination lawsuit.

Papa John’s fired a blind employee earlier than he’d even labored his first shift after refusing to let him hold his service canine in a again room whereas he labored, a federal company claimed in a lawsuit.

The pizza chain has now agreed to pay the employee $175,000 to settle the disability-discrimination lawsuit filed by the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission.

Michael Barnes is legally blind and depends on his service canine — a black English Labrador known as Indie — for duties together with touring.

When he utilized for a job at a Papa John’s restaurant in Athens, Georgia in February 2020, he informed the shop supervisor that he wanted his canine to journey to and from work however would not require it to remain subsequent to him throughout his shifts, the lawsuit says.

During Barnes’ interview the shop supervisor stated that protecting the canine on the location whereas Barnes labored would not be an issue, they usually mentioned methods of protecting the canine each out of buyer view and away from meals preparation, together with being secured within the restaurant’s convention room or below the shop supervisor’s desk, per the lawsuit.

Papa John’s provided him the job, although his employment was delayed due to disruptions that the pandemic brought on to the business. Before he might begin his shifts engaged on the dough station, nevertheless, Barnes needed to submit a proper request to maintain his canine within the restaurant whereas he labored.

Papa John’s Accommodation Request Committee denied the request made by Barnes and the shop supervisor, and stated he needs to be terminated, in line with the lawsuit. The EEOC says that the committee failed to talk to Barnes and “moderately examine” his lodging earlier than rejecting it.

The retailer supervisor informed Barnes that if he wished to maintain the job he would wish to search out an alternative choice to protecting the canine on the restaurant, per the lawsuit.

But this was unimaginable, as a result of Barnes relied on his canine to journey – and the corporate in the end terminated him, per the lawsuit.

The EEOC says that this violates the Americans with Disabilities Act, which prevents employers from discriminating in opposition to employees with disabilities and stipulates that they are required to make “reasonable” accommodations.

“Not permitting blind and visually impaired folks to journey to and from work in the best way that affords them confidence and independence is akin to telling sighted employees who depend on the flexibleness and independence of driving that they might not journey to work by automobile,” Karla Gilbride, the EEOC’s common counsel, stated in a press release.

Papa John’s has agreed to pay Barnes $175,000 to settle the lawsuit, with out admitting to wrongdoing. The firm will even present coaching on the Americans with Disabilities Act to workers on its Accommodation Request Committee and can overview its employment insurance policies.

“As an employer, we’re dedicated to attaining equal alternative and sustaining a various and inclusive tradition for all of our group members, together with these with disabilities,” a Papa John’s spokesperson informed USA Today.