EEOC Sues Dollar General Operator for Disability Discrimination and Unlawful Retaliation

LOUIS – Dolgencorp, LLC, which operates Dollar General stores nationwide, violated federal law when it failed to accommodate an employee with disabilities, forced her to quit when she called in sick, and retaliated against her for reporting the conduct, the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) charged in a lawsuit filed today.

According to the lawsuit, the manager at Dollar General’s Olustee, Oklahoma, location told the employee, who suffers from panic attacks, that the store would work with the employee’s occasional need for time off. The manager then disciplined the employee for calling in sick due to an anxiety attack. The manager further singled out the employee, disciplining her for conduct other employees also engaged in and told the employee to quit because the manager would not “lose [her job] because of an employee with a ‘social disability.’”

The manager’s actions ultimately led the employee to quit her job on June 2, 2023, telling the manager and Dollar General’s corporate hotline she could not work somewhere that used her disability against her. In July, the manager told local police that the now-former employee and her spouse were trespassing at the store and could no longer shop there, thus forcing the employee to drive over 10 miles to the nearest store to buy essentials, including baby diapers.

David Davis, director of the EEOC’s St. Louis District Office, said, “Retaliating against a former employee who reports disability discrimination is both unacceptable and unlawful. This conduct sets a troubling precedent of discouraging employees reporting discrimination, allowing it to persist in their workplace, and creating a culture of fear.”

“A person should never fear their job is in jeopardy because they need a reasonable accommodation for a disability,” said Andrea G. Baran, regional attorney for the EEOC’s St. Louis District Office. “The ADA ensures equal employment opportunity for everyone, which includes those who ask for accommo­dations and employees who report disability discrimination to their employer.”

Such alleged conduct violated the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), which prohibits disability discrimination and retaliation for reporting it. The EEOC filed suit (EEOC v. Dolgencorp, LLC, Case No. 5:25-cv-00083) in U.S. District Court for the Western District of Oklahoma after first attempting to reach a pre-litigation settlement through its administrative conciliation process.

More information about disability discrimination is available at https://www.eeoc.gov/disability-discrimination. For more information on retaliation, please visit https://www.eeoc.gov/retaliation.

The EEOC’s St. Louis District office oversees Missouri, Kansas, Nebraska, Oklahoma and a portion of southern Illinois.

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 about the EEOC is available at www.eeoc.gov. Stay connected with the latest EEOC news by subscribing to our email updates.