Walmart to pay $60,000 settlement in discrimination suit by Farmingdale worker, EEOC says

Global retail giant Walmart must pay $60,000 as part of a federal lawsuit it settled over charges the company discriminated against a Long Island employee with physical disabilities, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission said Monday.

Walmart revoked disability accommodations it had been providing a female employee working at its Farmingdale supercenter in 2020 that allowed the worker to perform her job functions as a consumer associate, according to a federal lawsuit filed on Sept. 3, 2023, in U.S. Court for the Eastern District of New York. The employee, identified in the EEOC complaint as Donna Livermore, also listed as the charging party, had been granted the accommodations initially in 2017.

However, in January 2020, managers "new to the Farmingdale location discontinued accommodations" made to assist Livermore with hearing, speech and cognitive impairments, the agency said. After losing the accommodations, a conflict concerning Livermore's daily tasks "prompted Walmart to fire her for insubordination" in January 2021, according to the EEOC.

"We don’t tolerate discrimination of any kind and are pleased to have resolved this matter," Walmart said in an emailed statement to Newsday.

Before the firing, management had described the worker as "very dedicated to her position," the EEOC said.

"Federal law prohibits firing an employee because of a disability or the need for a reasonable accommodation," Kimberly Cruz, regional attorney for the EEOC’s New York District Office said in a statement. "If an employer’s unlawful failure to accommodate a disability leads to an employee’s termination, the firing itself may also be unlawful under the Americans with Disabilities Act."

EEOC attorneys involved in the lawsuit could not immediately be reached for comment late Monday. Attempts to reach Livermore for comment late Monday were not successful.

Employment and labor law attorney Jessica M. Baquet, a partner at Westerman Ball Ederer Miller Zucker & Sharfstein in Uniondale, said both federal and state law require employers to go through an "interactive process" to determine what reasonable accommodations can be made for an employee with disabilities.

"The employer is required to engage in that process even if the employee doesn’t broach the topic with them," Baquet said.

While it is legally permissible for an employer to rescind accommodations in certain circumstances, such as an employee being made temporarily disabled by an illness or medical procedure, it should be "undeniable and crystal clear that the person is no longer disabled," before accommodations are discontinued, Baquet added.

"You really should be consulting with counsel before you do something like that so you can get a good read on what the legal requirements are," Baquet said.

As part of Walmart’s settlement signed Dec. 17, the company must also hold training for managers and human resources personnel on reasonable accommodations, the Americans with Disabilities Act and EEOC compliance. Additionally, Walmart must post a notice at the Long Island store informing workers of the settlement.

"The EEOC will continue to hold employers accountable for denying reasonable accommodations to employees with disabilities," Arlean Nieto, acting director of the EEOC’s New York District Office, said in statement.