Settles Federal Agency Charges Pizza Chain Failed to Accommodate and Fired Blind Employee Because of Disability
ATLANTA – Papa John’s Pizza, an international chain of pizza restaurants based in Louisville, Kentucky, will pay $175,000 and provide other relief to settle a disability discrimination lawsuit filed by the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), the federal agency announced today.
According to the EEOC’s suit, in early 2020, Michael Barnes applied for a job at his local Papa John’s restaurant in Athens, Georgia, after hearing from a friend that the company hired individuals with vision impairments. Barnes, who is legally blind and relies on his service dog for his commute, reached out to the local store manager and applied for a job. Barnes was hired but could not start until his accommodation request to bring his service dog was formally granted by Papa John’s. Papa John’s denied Barnes’s accommodation request and fired him before he worked a single shift.
Such conduct violates the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). The EEOC filed suit (Civil Action No. Civil Action No. 3:23-CV-00030-TES) in U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Georgia, Athens Division, after first attempting to reach a pre-litigation settlement via its conciliation process.
Under the two-year consent decree resolving the lawsuit, Papa John’s will pay $175,000 in monetary damages to Barnes; train its employees on the ADA; review its employment policies; and allow the...
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