Holsum Settles EEOC Disability Discrimination Lawsuit

INDIANAPOLIS – Holsum of Fort Wayne, Inc., a wholesale bakery with two locations in northern Indiana, will pay $50,000, amend workplace policies, and offer additional training to its employees to settle a disability discrimination lawsuit filed by the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), the federal agency announced today.

According to the EEOC’s lawsuit, Holsum maintained a policy prohibiting the use of personal items in the production area. In August 2020, one of its supervisors permitted an employee to bring a walker into the area so she could walk throughout the facility.

However, approximately a year later, the bakery told her she could no longer use the walker, as it violated the personal items policy. The employee said she needed the walker due to her disabilities, but Holsum refused to grant her an exception to the policy and forced her to take medical leave. A few months later, Holsum fired her because she was unable to return to work without the assistance of a walker.

“The ADA prohibits an employer from forcing an employee with a disability off the job when a reasonable accommodation is available and will allow that employee to continue working,” said EEOC Regional Attorney Kenneth Bird. “When an employer refuses to consider such an accommodation, it ignores its obligation under the law.”

The bakery’s alleged conduct violated the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), which prohibits disability discrimination. The EEOC filed suit (EEOC v. Holsum of Fort Wayne, Inc., Case No. 3:24-CV-00702-CCB-SJF) in U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Indiana after first attempting to reach a pre-litigation settlement through its administrative conciliation process.

Under the three-year consent decree entered Oct. 2 resolving the lawsuit, Holsum will pay $50,000 to the employee; adopt or amend certain policies and procedures to comply with the ADA; provide annual ADA training to its HR personnel and managers; and submit annual reports to the EEOC regarding certain reasonable accommodation requests made by the organization’s employees.

For more information on disability discrimination, please visit https://www.eeoc.gov/eeoc-disability-related-resources. For more information on the ADA’s reasonable accommodation requirements, please visit https://www.eeoc.gov/eeoc-disability-related-resources/reasonable-accommodation.

The Indianapolis District Office of the EEOC oversees Indiana, Michigan, Kentucky, and parts of Ohio.

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.