7-Eleven Faces Lawsuit For Disability Discrimination
7-Eleven Faces Lawsuit For Disability Discrimination

7-Eleven Faces Lawsuit For Disability Discrimination

The EEOC announced that an Oklahoma chain of 7-Eleven stores is facing a Discrimination Lawsuit for failing to makes accommodations for workers with disabilities and firing them. Brown-Thompson General Partnership, dba 7-Eleven, a chain of Oklahoma convenience stores, violated federal law when it failed to provide reasonable accommodations to workers with disabilities at the company’s Oklahoma City warehouse and distribution center, the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) charged in a lawsuit filed on Friday, September 30, 2016.

According to EEOC’s suit, Casey Crothers worked as a stocker at the distribution center. When his doctor placed him on short-term work restrictions due to a disability, Crothers asked for temporary transfer to a position that met his restrictions. 7-Eleven told Crothers that because his restrictions were not related to an on-the-job injury, the company was not required to accommodate him. 7-Eleven then fired Crothers because he was going to miss more than three days of work. EEOC alleges 7-Eleven similarly failed to provide reasonable accommodations to other workers, denying temporary light or modified duty and terminating employees with disabilities who missed more than three days of work if they were not eligible for leave under the Family and Medical Leave Act.

Such alleged conduct violates the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). EEOC filed suit in U.S. District Court for the Western District of Oklahoma (EEOC v. Brown-Thompson General Partnership d/b/a 7-Eleven Stores, Case No. 5:16-cv-01142-R) after first attempting to reach a pre-litigation settlement through its conciliation process. The agency seeks back pay and compensatory and punitive damages, along with injunctive relief to prevent and address any future disability discrimination.

“While the Family and Medical Leave Act requires certain employers to provide leave to some employees, it is not the only law that requires leave,” said James R. Neely, Jr., director of EEOC’s St. Louis District Office. “Where leave is a reasonable accommodation for a medical condition covered by the ADA, an employer must provide it.”

Andrea G. Baran, regional attorney for EEOC’s St. Louis District, said, “One of the primary goals of the ADA is to keep people with disabilities working. When accommodations are reasonable – such as allowing an employee to temporarily work in an available job that meets the employee’s restrictions or allowing the worker additional time off – and do not pose an undue hardship on the employer, the law requires that the employer provide the accommodation.”

According to its website, 7-Eleven operates over 110 locations across Central Oklahoma and is one of the state’s leading gasoline and convenience products retailers. 7-Eleven Inc. is a Japanese-owned American international chain of convenience stores, headquartered in Dallas, Texas. The chain was known as Tote’m Stores until it was renamed in 1946. Its parent company since 2005, Seven-Eleven Japan Co., Ltd., operates, franchises, and licenses 66,579 stores in 17 countries as of June 2018. Seven-Eleven Japan is headquartered in Chiyoda, Tokyo and held by Seven & I Holdings Co., Ltd.. The most recent franchise agreement gives up to 59% of a franchise’s gross profit to the company

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