Papa John’s To Pay $175K For Discrimination

by Kevin Burton

   Giant pizza-delivery chain Papa John’s will cough up a big chunk of dough, for employment  discrimination against a blind man, according to multiple published reports.

   Louisville-based Papa John’s is the fourth-largest pizza delivery chain in the US,  according to USA Today. On its website, Papa John’s lists “the values that help us deliver” as “people first, everyone belongs, do the right thing, innovate to win, have fun.”

   But contrary to its stated values, Papa John’s violated the Americans With Disabilities Act in 2020, was sued, and now will pay a $175,000 settlement.

    It’s great to see such corporate lawbreakers held to account. But those of us who follow such cases know that this is but the tip of a discriminatory iceberg. For every company made to pay, probably hundreds go unpunished because the victims don’t have the wherewithal to stand up for their rights.

  So it’s do the right thing, occasionally, if you are forced to.

   The settlement was reached Nov. 20.

   “Papa John’s Pizza will pay $175,000 to former employee Michael Barnes, a blind man who was denied an accommodation and subsequently fired before working a single shift, according to the ,” wrote Amaris Encinas in USA Today.

   “The move violates the American with Disabilities act, which prohibits discrimination against people with disabilities in several areas, including employment, transportation, public accommodations, communications and access to state and local government’ programs and services.”

   “Not allowing blind and visually impaired people to travel to and from work in the way that affords them confidence and independence is akin to telling sighted workers who rely on the flexibility and independence of driving that they may not travel to work by car,” said Karla Gilbride, part of the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission’s general counsel. 

   “In addition to the payment, Papa John’s has also agreed to train its employee on the Americans with Disabilities Act, review its employment policies and allow the EEOC to monitor complaints of discrimination or retaliation, the EEOC announced this week,” Encinas wrote.  

   “Barnes applied for a job in early 2020 at a Papa John’s Pizza restaurant in Athens, Georgia, his hometown, after hearing from a friend that the company hired people with vision impairments,” the EEOC stated. 

   “He contacted the store manager and was able to apply for an open position at the store. Barnes, who relies on a service dog to help him get around since he is legally blind, had to have his accommodation request formally approved by the company.”

   “Not only did Papa John’s deny Barnes from bringing his service dog to work with him, but the company also fired him before he could start,” according to the EEOC. 

   “To avoid further litigation and expense, the parties have decided to resolve the lawsuit in this way,” a Papa John’s Pizza spokesperson told USA Today.
   “This is not the first time the pizza chain has faced legal scrutiny on the basis of discrimination,” wrote Joanna Fantozzi of Nation’s Restaurant News. “In 2017 Papa Johns settled for $125,000 in a EEOC lawsuit for terminating an employee with an intellectual disability.”

   “The pizza industry is no stranger to allegations of discrimination by the visually impaired community,” Fantozzi wrote. “ In 2019, a legally blind man won a case that went all the way up to the Supreme Court requiring the Domino’s website to be accessible to the disabled, which led to the Congressional introduction of the Online Accessibility Act.  

   “The ADA protects workers with disabilities by requiring employers to provide reasonable accommodations to employees with disabilities to afford them an equal opportunity to work. The EEOC is pleased that Mr. Barnes has been compensated and the company agreed to implement training and evaluate its policies to prevent this type of discrimination from occurring again,” said Marcus G. Keegan, regional attorney for the EEOC’s Atlanta District Office. 

   I urge you not to spend money on bad pizza from bad corporate actors. Why not check out local mom and pop pizzerias?  That way, you keep the money local and support people who live in your neighborhood.