A quarter just ended a quarter-century career — over a policy five weeks old
A 50-cent purchase ended a 24-year career at Burlington Stores. Now the retailer faces an age discrimination lawsuit in federal court.
Ana Teixeira, 59, worked at Burlington's Store #362 in Orange, Connecticut, starting in October 2001. She opened and closed the store, served as Manager on Duty, ran the cash office, and interviewed prospective hires. She never received a single disciplinary action.
On March 24, 2025, according to the lawsuit, Teixeira picked up a pair of children's booties she believed were priced at $4.89. At the register, the item rang up at 25 cents — a final markdown price she did not expect. The total came to 50 cents for two items. She did not use her employee discount.
What Teixeira apparently did not know, according to the lawsuit filed February 15 in the U.S. District Court for the District of Connecticut (Teixeira v. Burlington Coat Factory Warehouse Corp., No. 3:26-cv-00235), was that Burlington had quietly revised its associate discount policy roughly five weeks earlier, barring employees from purchasing 25-cent final markdown merchandise — a pricing category that had never existed before. The company communicated the change through BPlanner+, a scheduling platform, instructing store managers to pass the word along. There is no evidence Teixeira was personally notified.
Eleven days after the purchase, Burlington's District Asset Protection Manager pulled Teixeira into...
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