EEOC Sues O’Reilly Auto Parts for Disability Discrimination

DETROIT - O'Reilly Auto Enterprises, LLC, doing business as O'Reilly Auto Parts, a national auto parts retailer operating more than 6,500 stores throughout the United States, Puerto Rico, Mexico and Canada, violated federal law by failing to reasonably accommodate a disabled employee at its Belleville, Michigan distribution center and fired him instead, the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) charged in a lawsuit announced today.

According to the EEOC's lawsuit, O'Reilly hired an employee as a commercial truck driver in 2015. In the summer of 2022, he had a stroke and multiple seizures and was hospitalized in an intensive care unit. The employee was on an approved leave of absence until February 2023.

Towards the end of his leave, after he was advised that he could not drive a commercial vehicle for five years, he requested a reasonable accommodation in the form of reassignment to a non-driving position at an O'Reilly's distribution center. Although he qualified for multiple open and available positions, O'Reilly refused to offer him one of the positions pursuant to a policy which prohibited drivers from being reassigned to distribution centers. Instead, O'Reilly terminated him, the suit said.

"Employers are required under federal law to make reasonable accommodations for employees with disabilities, absent undue hardship, including reassignment to an open position," said Kenneth Bird, regional attorney for the EEOC's Indianapolis District. "O'Reilly's refusal to reassign this employee to an open non-driving position violated the law, and the EEOC will continue to fight disability discrimination."

Such alleged conduct violates the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), which prohibits discrimination based on disability. The EEOC filed suit (EEOC v. O'Reilly Auto Enterprises, L.L.C., dba O'Reilly Auto Parts, Case No. 2:26-cv-12098) in U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan after first attempting to reach a pre-litigation settlement through its administrative conciliation process. The EEOC is seeking back pay, compensatory damages and punitive damages on behalf of the former employee, as well as injunctive relief to prevent future discrimination.

For more information on disability discrimination, please visit https://www.eeoc.gov/disability-discrimination .

The EEOC's Indianapolis District Office has jurisdiction over Indiana, Michigan, Kentucky and parts of Ohio.

The EEOC is the sole federal agency authorized to investigate and litigate against businesses and other private sector employers for violations of federal laws prohibiting employment discrimination. For public sector employers, the EEOC shares jurisdiction with the Department of Justice's Civil Rights Division. The EEOC also is responsible for coordinating the federal government's employment antidiscrimination effort. More information about the EEOC is available at www.eeoc.gov .