Circle K Stores Inc. agreed to pay $8 million after the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) accused the company of failing to provide reasonable accommodations to and retaliating against workers with disabilities and pregnant employees, the EEOC recently announced.

The company allegedly subjected these employees to actions such as involuntary unpaid leave, retaliation, requiring employees be 100 percent healed to return to work and terminations, an EEOC investigation found.

The actions violate the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Pregnancy Discrimination Act.

"When employers have rigid maximum leave policies with no flexibility to give additional leave for a disability or pregnancy-related reason, they are in serious danger of running afoul of the law," Mary Jo O'Neill, regional attorney for the EEOC's Phoenix District Office, said in a statement. "Employers who don't give current employees a reassignment to an open position after the employer decides there is no reasonable accommodation available in the current position are also in danger of violating the law."

As part of the four-year settlement, Circle K has agreed to:

• Update its policies as needed.
• Appoint a coordinator to provide oversight on pregnancy-related disability policies, requests for reasonable accommodations, and maintenance of records.
• Conduct climate surveys and exit interviews with specific attention to their accommodation process....

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