Elaine’s Pet Resorts Settles EEOC Disability Discrimination Lawsuit

FRESNO, Calif. – Elaine’s Pet Resorts, et. al., which operates pet resorts in Fresno and Madera, California, will pay $35,000 and provide other relief to resolve a disability lawsuit filed by the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), the federal agency announced today.

According to the EEOC’s lawsuit, since at least 2021, Elaine’s Pet Resorts failed to hire or terminated employees who failed the company’s post-offer drug screening, despite the medications being lawfully prescribed.

Such alleged conduct violated the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), which prohibits discrimination on the basis of disability in the form of denial of a reasonable accommodation. The EEOC filed suit in U.S. District Court in the Eastern District of California (Case No.: 1:23-cv-01422-JLT-EPG) after first attempting to reach a pre-litigation settlement through its conciliation process.

In addition to monetary relief, Elaine’s Pet Resorts agreed to new and robust compliance measures, including hiring an external equal employment opportunity monitor, providing specific reasonable accommodation training, and implementing effective ADA policies and procedures to ensure proper handling of reasonable accommodation requests. The EEO monitor will also oversee investigations of alleged disability discrimination. The case will remain under the court’s jurisdiction for a term of three years.

“Employers must engage in the interactive process and provide reasonable accommodations for employees and applicants with disabilities who have been legally prescribed medications that result in positive drug screening,” said Anna Park, regional attorney for the EEOC’s Los Angeles District, which includes Fresno.

Armando Hernandez, director of the EEOC’s Fresno local office, added, “Automatically assuming that a positive drug screen means that an individual is taking illicit drugs can violate the ADA. The EEOC is here to protect the rights of employees and applicants who experience disability discrimination.”

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

This lawsuit was initiated by the EEOC’s Fresno Local Office, one of five component offices of the agency’s Los Angeles District. The Los Angeles District Office has jurisdiction over parts of California and Nevada; the Hawaiian Islands; American Samoa; Guam; the Northern Mariana Islands; and Wake Island, with offices in Los Angeles, Fresno, Las Vegas, San Diego and Honolulu.

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.