EEOC Sues JDKD Enterprises for Disability Discrimination
JDKD Enterprises, LP, a Sewell-New Jersey limited partnership that owns and operates numerous McDonald’s franchises in New Jersey, violated federal law when it fired a grill cook due to his disability, the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) charged in a lawsuit.
According to the suit, a grill cook who has autism spectrum disorder worked at McDonald’s for 37 years, including for about ten years at a McDonald’s restaurant in Deptford, New Jersey. Throughout his employment, the grill cook received awards and accolades for his excellent job performance. The grill cook’s disability was apparent, and it included his tendency to speak in a loud voice. The EEOC charges that only two months after JDKD Enterprises assumed ownership of this McDonald’s restaurant in Deptford, it abruptly terminated the grill cook because of his disability, despite his continued excellent job performance.
EDTX Reaches American with Disabilities Act Resolution with Smith County, Texas Regarding Hearing-Impaired Individuals
The Eastern District of Texas announced today that it had reached a cooperative resolution agreement under Title II of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) with Smith County, Texas to ensure individuals who are deaf or hearing impaired can communicate as effectively as others.
This matter was initiated upon receipt of a complaint filed with the Civil Rights Division of the U.S. Department of Justice, by an individual who is hearing impaired. The complaint alleged that Smith County, which provides services, programs, and activities in its county courthouse, failed to take appropriate steps to ensure that communications with the deaf and hearing-impaired are as effective as communications between the non-hearing impaired.
9th Circuit Orders Lower Court to Review Decision Over Accessibility at Baseball Stadium
A federal appeals court on Wednesday ruled in favor of plaintiffs who alleged that spectators using wheelchairs at T-Mobile Park, the home of the Seattle Mariners Major League Baseball team, had inadequate sightlines under the Americans with Disabilities Act.
In a 27-page opinion, a panel of the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals at San Francisco held that the lower court incorrectly applied the Department of Justice’s stadium-related guidelines by analyzing only the requirement that a person using a wheelchair be able to see the game between the heads and over the shoulders of the people standing in the row immediately in front of them.