Lowe’s to Pay $55K to Settle Charges of Discrimination at Texas Store

Lowe’s Home Centers LLC, a nationwide chain of home improvement and hardware stores, will pay $55,000 to settle a disability discrimination lawsuit filed on behalf of a manager at one of the company’s stores in Texas, federal officials announced.

The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) reported that it filed a lawsuit alleging Lowe’s had “failed or refused to accommodate a department manager” at a Lowe’s store in Cleburne, Texas.

According to the EEOC’s lawsuit, the manager is disabled because of a spinal cord injury that substantially limits the use of his right arm. Lowe’s hired the employee as a customer service associate in 2006 and in 2008 he was promoted to department manager. The company knew of the employee’s disability at the time of his promotion. He successfully worked as a department manager for six years, and while his disability prevented his use of certain power equipment, when necessary he delegated the task to an employee he supervised.

According to the EEOC, in June 2015 Lowe’s stopped providing the employee with reasonable accommodation and demoted him to a non-supervisory associate position. His hourly wage was cut by more than $4 per hour, the EEOC said.

The EEOC sued in U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Texas, Dallas Division (Civil Action No. 4:17-CV-02589-M) after first attempting to reach a pre-litigation settlement through a conciliation process.

The three-year consent decree settling the suit calls for Lowe’s to provide monetary relief to the employee, and to conduct training on the ADA for employees, managers and human resources personnel at the Cleburne Store.