Director says HR reached out on his inactive work phone, then warned him to respond
A former senior Darden Restaurants leader says the company shut him out instead of accommodating his disabilities - and is now suing under federal law.
Ryan McDonald, a former director of operations who oversaw multiple restaurant locations, filed suit on May 4, 2026, in the US District Court for the Eastern District of Arkansas. He brings three claims under the Americans with Disabilities Act: failure to accommodate, disability discrimination, and retaliation.
McDonald says he hurt his back and neck in July 2024 while performing work-related duties at his supervisor's direction. He also had pre-existing conditions, including prior hip replacements and back surgeries. In November 2024, he requested reasonable accommodations through appropriate channels, including email.
The complaint alleges Darden never engaged in a meaningful, good-faith interactive process - the back-and-forth between employer and employee that the ADA requires when working out how a person with a disability can keep doing the job. Instead, the filing says, the company's disability-management staff steered him toward long-term disability benefits.
For HR leaders, the case reads as a study in how an interactive process can go off the rails.
McDonald says the senior vice president of human resources, Teresa Willings, told him a representative, Wanda Colon, would be in touch. A month later, he received certified mail dated...
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