Butterball settles EEOC allegation it was liable for vendor’s failure to process ADA leave request
Source: HR Dive ↗
Employers can’t delegate their responsibility for complying with federal law to a third-party administrator, an EEOC attorney said. The company denied the allegations and that it acted unlawfully regarding the employee, the consent decree said. In response to the settlement, a representative for Butterball told HR Dive in an email that, “At Butterball, our team members are at the heart of everything we do, and we are dedicated to creating an environment where people feel supported, celebrated and connected.” According to the EEOC’s March lawsuit , with her daughter’s assistance, the employee, who speaks almost exclusively Haitian Creole, advised Butterball of her diagnosis and requested leave to attend medical appointments and recover from her chemotherapy treatments. Butterball instructed the women to contact its third-party benefits administrator, which instructed them to use its online claims process, the lawsuit alleged. In line with that process, they filed a critical illness claim and a request for leave, but the administrator allegedly never followed up, the complaint said. As a result, the employee incurred attendance points for missing shifts due to her cancer treatments. Butterball eventually fired her, even though she allegedly provided notes from her medical providers explaining her absences.
The EEOC sued Butterball for violating the ADA by failing to reasonably accommodate the employee and firing her because of her disability. Her settlement payment includes $18,400 in back pay, $134,941 in compensatory damages and $76,659 in attorney fees, according to the consent decree. Also under the consent decree, Butterball must identify an internal liaison to facilitate communications and help employees submit accommodation or claim requests to its third-party administrator. Additionally, the consent decree requires the company to follow up on accommodation requests and make sure a third party’s policies for receiving and processing reasonable accommodation requests, requests related to leave, and requests involving a disability — as well as a vendor’s decision to deny medical leave-related requests — comply with the ADA. Butterball must also make its leave policies available in English, Spanish and Haitian Creole. In July, SC Johnson and a former employee agreed to end a lawsuit involving similar allegations under the Family and Medical Leave Act. According to the lawsuit, the company allegedly approved the employee’s request for FMLA leave but had outsourced FMLA administration to a third party.
The employee claimed it was “almost impossible” to get a hold of anyone at the vendor and “significant problems” with its system discouraged him from taking FMLA leave. He was later fired, in part, for failing to follow SC Johnson’s leave procedures. He sued the company for interfering with his FMLA rights, and a federal judge said the case could move forward. Two Connecticut laws requiring that require employers to provide pay ranges take effect this week. The officer also said she was forbidden to speak publicly about equity. Two Connecticut laws requiring that require employers to provide pay ranges take effect this week. The officer also said she was forbidden to speak publicly about equity.
⚡ Effects Interpreter
🌍World Economylow impact
What this means for you
- ▶Trade and investment between countries may shift a bit if things escalate.
- ▶Global boardrooms tend to take notice when this kind of news surfaces.
🏙️Local Economylow impact
What this means for you
- ▶The local labour market may feel a mild shift from this.
- ▶Employers in the area might rethink their hiring plans.
🏦Rates & Bankslow impact
What this means for you
- ▶Mortgage offers may firm up or soften as the picture becomes clearer.
- ▶Your monthly repayments are far more likely to hold steady than to spike.
❤️Healthmedium impact
What this means for you
- ▶Being kind to yourself matters just as much as staying informed.
- ▶It's easy to underestimate how much stories like this weigh on people.
💷Wealthmedium impact
What this means for you
- ▶Redundancy or a pay cut can eat into savings and delay retirement plans.
- ▶Steady work is the bedrock of steady saving.
🏠Housinglow impact
What this means for you
- ▶House prices and rents are unlikely to shift the moment this news breaks.
- ▶Landlords and tenants alike rarely feel sudden shifts from a story like this.
🌍 Effects for your country
The U.S.'s central bank rate currently stands at 3.75%, so a global rates move like this could feed through to local borrowing costs. The U.S.'s economy is growing at 2.3% with inflation at 3.2%, the backdrop this story's effects play out against locally. Housing-market effects like this are usually felt most where mortgage rates track the U.S.'s own central bank rate closely. With the U.S.'s unemployment at 4.4%, personal-finance effects like this land on a labour market that is currently fairly stable. Health-system effects are harder to localise from economic indicators alone — the real impact in the U.S. depends more on local healthcare capacity than the figures above.
The UK's central bank rate currently stands at 3.75%, so a global rates move like this could feed through to local borrowing costs. The UK's economy is growing at 0.8% with inflation at 3.2%, the backdrop this story's effects play out against locally. Housing-market effects like this are usually felt most where mortgage rates track the UK's own central bank rate closely. With the UK's unemployment at 5.6%, personal-finance effects like this land on a labour market that is currently fairly stable. Health-system effects are harder to localise from economic indicators alone — the real impact in the UK depends more on local healthcare capacity than the figures above.
France's central bank rate currently stands at 2%, so a global rates move like this could feed through to local borrowing costs. France's economy is growing at 0.9% with inflation at 1.8%, the backdrop this story's effects play out against locally. Housing-market effects like this are usually felt most where mortgage rates track France's own central bank rate closely. With France's unemployment at 7.9%, personal-finance effects like this land on a labour market that is already under strain. Health-system effects are harder to localise from economic indicators alone — the real impact in France depends more on local healthcare capacity than the figures above.
Romania's central bank rate currently stands at 6.5%, so a global rates move like this could feed through to local borrowing costs. Romania's economy is growing at 0.7% with inflation at 7.8%, the backdrop this story's effects play out against locally. Housing-market effects like this are usually felt most where mortgage rates track Romania's own central bank rate closely. With Romania's unemployment at 6%, personal-finance effects like this land on a labour market that is currently fairly stable. Health-system effects are harder to localise from economic indicators alone — the real impact in Romania depends more on local healthcare capacity than the figures above.
The UAE's central bank rate currently stands at 3.65%, so a global rates move like this could feed through to local borrowing costs. The UAE's economy is growing at 3.1% with inflation at 2.5%, the backdrop this story's effects play out against locally. Housing-market effects like this are usually felt most where mortgage rates track the UAE's own central bank rate closely. Health-system effects are harder to localise from economic indicators alone — the real impact in the UAE depends more on local healthcare capacity than the figures above.