According to a federal court lawsuit, Walmart in South Carolina denied a disabled employee the use of an electric shopping cart, forcing him to take unpaid leave.
The retail giant gave Luis Quiñones, an amputee who was born without half of his right leg, three years of unpaid leave, according to the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission lawsuit.
According to the lawsuit, Walmart initially allowed Quiñones to use an electric cart to perform certain tasks at the store in Aiken, about 55 miles southwest of Columbia, from December 2019 to July 2020.
About seven months later, Walmart “revoked” Quiñones’ use of the shopping cart, telling him that motorized shopping carts were for customers only, the EEOC said in a March 7 press release.
His colleagues can now also use the carts if they are temporarily injured, according to the EEOC.
Now Walmart has agreed to pay $70,000 to settle the disability discrimination lawsuit, the agency announced.
According to a settlement agreement filed March 7, the company will pay Quiñones $45,102.08 in lost wages and $24,897.92 in compensatory damages.
In a March 8 statement to McClatchy News, Walmart said, “We are pleased to have resolved this matter with the EEOC and Mr. Quinones.”
“We do not tolerate discrimination of any kind and provide reasonable accommodations to thousands of employees,” the company added.
Walmart lays off employees on “indefinite unpaid leave”
Quiñones was banned from using an electric shopping cart shortly after a new human resources manager started working at Walmart in Aiken, according to the lawsuit, which accuses the company of violating the Americans with Disabilities Act.
The employee representative told Quiñones that in order to continue using the shopping cart, he would need to submit an accommodation request to Walmart’s Accommodation Service Center, the lawsuit states.
On July 15, 2020, Walmart notified Quiñones that he was no longer qualified to perform his duties as a sales associate, the lawsuit states.
That day, the human resources representative told him he was not allowed to use the shopping cart and suggested he work as a self-checkout clerk instead, the lawsuit says.
However, according to the EEOC, he was unable to perform this job because of his disability.
“Walmart failed to offer a reasonable alternative that would have enabled Quiñones to continue working and instead placed him on indefinite unpaid leave,” the EEOC’s complaint states.
Walmart offers man new job
According to the settlement, Walmart agreed to offer Quiñones a job at another of the company’s stores in Aiken.
“The EEOC will aggressively pursue all appropriate avenues for redress for victims of discrimination,” Nicholas Wolfmeyer, an EEOC litigator, said in a statement. “This often includes advocating for an employee’s reinstatement, which will happen in this case.”
As part of the two-year settlement, Walmart must provide reasonable accommodations for disabled workers regarding walking and standing at the other store in Aiken, according to the EEOC.
The company will also train store employees each year, post a notice on-site and submit compliance reports to the EEOC, the agency said.
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