Penney OpCo to Pay $99,000 in EEOC Disability Lawsuit

ATLANTA - Penney OpCo, LLC, doing business as JC Penney, a retail department store chain with more than 600 stores and distribution warehouses nationwide, will pay $99,000 and undertake remedial measures to settle a U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) disability discrimination lawsuit, the federal agency announced today.

According to the EEOC's complaint, a warehouse associate at the JC Penney logistics center in Forest Park, Georgia was diagnosed with breast cancer and requested time off for medical appointments. She submitted the required written accommodation request, medical documentation of her treatment and need for leave from work to the company's third-party benefits administrator; however, JC Penney denied her request. Because her request was denied, the time she took off from work for her cancer treatment counted against JC Penney's attendance points policy, and when she exceeded the number of points allowed, she was fired on July 3, 2023, the EEOC charged.

"Employers' use of third-party administrators to handle reasonable accommodations can be inherently problematic, especially when not effectively monitored," said Marcus G. Keegan, regional attorney for the EEOC's Atlanta District. "The resolution of this case not only compensates the employee who was wrongly discharged but institutes a new process to ensure that future accommodation requests are handled properly."

This alleged conduct violated the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), which prohibits disability discrimination. The EEOC filed suit in U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Georgia, Atlanta Division (EEOC v. Penney OpCo, LLC, Civil Action No. 1:25-cv-06582), after first attempting to reach a pre-litigation settlement through its conciliation process.

Darrell Graham, director of the EEOC's Atlanta District, said, "The EEOC is always pleased when an employer not only compensates the victim of discrimination but also takes active steps to ensure its future compliance with the ADA."

The approved consent decree settling the suit requires JC Penney to provide monetary relief to the employee; post a notice informing employees at the company's logistics centers of the settlement and of employees' rights against discrimination; provide periodic reports on JC Penney's handling of future requests involving a failure to provide an accommodation at its logistics centers; and train relevant managers about their responsibilities under the ADA with an emphasis on determining whether an employee is entitled to an accommodation.

Moreover, JC Penney will institute and train its managers on a new process for monitoring how its third-party leave administrator handles requests for accommodation under the ADA and a review procedure before discharging employees who may have disability accommodation requests pending.

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

The EEOC's Atlanta District Office has jurisdiction over Georgia and the counties of Allendale, Bamberg, Barnwell, Beaufort, Berkeley, Charleston, Colleton, Dorchester, Georgetown, Hampton, Jasper and Williamsburg in South Carolina.

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 .