Starbucks May be Planet Friendly, but it Sure Isn't People Friendly...

Starbucks was recently charged by the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission with failing to provide an employee with a reasonable accommodation under the ADA. The fact that Starbucks refused to allow one of its barista's a stool to assist her with her job (she suffers from dwarfism) is in sharp contrast to the way that Starbucks portrays itself on its official website. At Starbucks.com, the company claims that, "in every place that we’ve been, and every place that we touch, we've tried to make it a little better than we found it." Apparently that does not apply to its employees.

According to the EEOC's suit, the disabled employee, Elsa Sallard, has a physical impairment, dwarfism. She was hired by Starbucks to work in a customer service position July 2009, but was only allowed to train for 3 days before she was fired. The job description for the barista position stated that no prior experience was required. Soon after being hired by Starbucks, Sallard asked to use a stool or small stepladder to perform the essential functions of preparing orders and serving customers at the counter. Starbucks disregarded Sallard’s request and refused to consider her use of a stool or stepladder. The same day that Sallard requested the accommodation, Starbucks terminated her employment, claiming that she could pose a danger to customers and employees.

Such alleged conduct violates Title I of the Americans With Disabilities Act (ADA), which prohibits employers from discriminating against qualified individuals with disabilities in hiring, firing, job application procedures, advancement, compensation, job training and other terms and conditions of employment. The ADA requires employers to make reasonable accommodations to employees’ and applicants’ disabilities as long as this does not pose an undue hardship. Moreover, the ADA requires the employer to engage in a collaborative process in order to determine whether other accommodations may be available to better suit both parties. Apparently, this did not take place.

As such, the EEOC filed suit after first attempting to reach a pre-litigation settlement through its conciliation process. More to follow on this one...

If you believe that you have suffered from discrimination in your employment, please consult an attorney right away. The statute of limitations on both the federal and state claims is quite short.