Papa John's Pizza agrees to pay $175,000 to a blind employee who was fired because of his dog
The Papa John's Pizza chain will have to pay a blind employee $175,000 because he was "discriminated". In 2020, Michael Barnes was fired from one of the Papa John's restaurants in Athens because the restaurant failed to properly accommodate his service dog.
Although the employee passed the interview, he could not even work a full shift. The lawsuit filed by the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission was reported by SSPDaily.
The complaint states that when Michael Barnes applied for a job, he heard that the company was hiring visually impaired employees. After speaking with a manager, he was hired but not allowed to go to work fully.
The manager told Barnes that he would not be able to start work until his request for an accommodation for his service dog was approved.
The EEOC's general counsel compared the situation to if sighted people were not allowed to drive to work, restricting their driving privileges.
After the investigation, the company admitted guilt and agreed to compensation. In addition, Papa John's Pizza pledged to train employees on the provisions of the Americans with Disabilities Act.
The pizza chain hopes to revise its hiring policies and has also authorized the monitoring of complaints of discrimination or retaliation.
"We are pleased that Papa John's has agreed to provide training to its employees and hope that in the future no job applicant who uses a service dog will experience the discrimination Mr. Barnes did," said EEOC General Counsel.