1st Franklin Financial Corporation to Pay $750,000 in EEOC Disability Discrimination Suit

ATLANTA – 1st Franklin Financial Corporation, a consumer lender with more than 370 branches throughout the Southeastern United States, will pay $750,000 to a class of former employees and provide other relief to settle a disability discrimination suit by the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), the federal agency announced today.

According to the suit, since 2022, 1st Franklin denied reasonable accommodations to its employees with disabilities and offered no alternative accommodations, including when its employees requested leave as an accommodation. One former customer service representative had multiple medical conditions contributing to heart attacks, requiring hospitalization. He requested a short leave of absence until he expected to be released from the hospital, but the company denied the request and terminated him, according to the suit.

“Federal law requires that an employer accommodate its employees’ disabilities when it is not an undue hardship to do so,” said Marcus G. Keegan, regional attorney for the EEOC’s Atlanta District Office. “The EEOC commends 1st Franklin for resolving this matter so early in the case and compensating employees who were denied an accommodation.”

Such conduct violates the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), which requires the accommodation of disabilities absent undue hardship, and prohibits employers from discharging an employee because of their disability or because they engaged in protected activity. The EEOC filed suit (Civil Action No. 1:25-cv-03632-TWT-CCB) in U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Georgia, Atlanta Division, after first attempting to reach a pre-litigation settlement via its conciliation process.

Darrell E. Graham, director of the EEOC’s Atlanta District Office, said, “The EEOC is pleased that 1st Franklin stepped up to remedy its past practices and will take the steps necessary to hopefully prevent this from happening again.”

The three-year consent decree resolving the lawsuit requires 1st Franklin to provide $250,000 to the former customer service representative and to establish a class fund of $500,000 to pay other harmed claimants. In addition to the monetary relief, 1st Franklin will update its employment policies, provide specialized training to managers, supervisors, and human resources personnel who receive and handle disability accommodation requests, and post a notice in the workplace informing employees of the settlement and of their right to be free from workplace discrimination. Furthermore, the company will provide the EEOC with periodic reports regarding requests for disability accommodations and how those requests were handled.

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 is responsible for investigating charges against state and local government employers before referring them to DOJ for potential litigation. The EEOC also is responsible for coordinating the federal government’s employment antidiscrimination effort. More information is available at www.eeoc.gov. Stay connected with the latest EEOC news by subscribing to our email updates.