Dunkin’ Donuts Franchisees to Pay $250,000 in EEOC Disability Discrimination Suit

BOSTON – The Daly/Kenney Group, LLC and 15 related companies, owners and operators of Dunkin’ Donuts restaurants in New Bedford and Fairhaven, Massachusetts, will pay $250,000 and provide other relief to settle a disability discrimination lawsuit recently filed by the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), the federal agency announced today.

According to the EEOC’s lawsuit, since approximately March 2013, the Dunkin’ Donuts franchisees had a policy which refused to provide reasonable accommodations to employees who had actual or perceived medical restrictions. Instead, the franchisees placed such employees on unpaid, indefinite leave, even if the restrictions did not prevent them from performing the essential functions of their jobs, the EEOC said. This practice, sometimes known as a “100% healed” policy, often resulted in forced resignation or discharge of employees who could not provide a doctor’s note stating they had no restrictions.  Additionally, two of the franchisees unlawfully commingled employees’ medical records with their personnel files.

“We appreciate the defendant’s willingness to enter into an early resolution of this case, eliminating the unlawful policy and appropriately compensating those harmed by it,” said Kimberly Cruz, regional attorney of the EEOC’s New York District Office. “100%-healed policies are rooted in outdated prejudices about workers with disabilities and do not belong in the modern workplace.”

Such alleged conduct violates the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), which prohibits discrimination against qualified individuals with disabilities, requires employers to provide reasonable accommodations that allow employees to do their jobs, and prohibits employers from commingling employee medical records and personnel files.

Arlean Nieto, acting district director of the EEOC’s New York District Office, said, “The ADA requires employers to individually assess reasonable accommodations and grant those which do not pose an undue hardship for the employer. Uniform policies eliminating such individual considerations are red flags for ADA violations.”

The EEOC filed suit (EEOC v. The Daly/Kenney Group, LLC, et al., Case No. 1:26-cv-11526-AK) in U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts after first attempting to reach a pre-litigation settlement through its administrative conciliation process.

In addition to paying monetary damages to the affected employees, the four-year consent decree settling the suit requires the Dunkin’ Donuts franchisees to eliminate the requirement for employees to have no medical restrictions, individually assess and provide reasonable accommodations to qualified, disabled employees, and annually train all employees on the ADA.

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

The EEOC’s New York District Office has jurisdiction over Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New York, northern New Jersey, Rhode Island, and Vermont.

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.