In May 2004, the Phoenix District Office of the EEOC brought this suit against Luby's Inc. in the U.S. District Court for the District of Arizona. We do not have a copy of the complaint. However, according to the consent decree and a court order in the case, the complaint alleged that the defendant violated the American with Disabilities Act of 1990 ("ADA") by discriminating against the charging party, an employee with an intellectual disability. Specifically, the defendant failed to reasonably accommodate the charging party's disability and subjected her to harassment, resulting in her constructive discharge. The charging party intervened in the suit in August 2004. After some discovery, the EEOC filed a partial motion for summary judgment in August 2005, and the defendant filed a complete motion for summary judgment that same day. Both of these motions were granted in part and denied in part in December 2005. After some more discovery, the parties finally settled in April 2006 through a consent decree.

The eighteen-month decree, containing non-discrimination and non-retaliation clauses, required the defendant to: provide annual ADA training to its employees, post and distribute its anti-discrimination policies, report to the EEOC every six months, and pay $60,000 for the charging party's attorneys' fees. In addition, the defendant agreed to: send the charging party a letter of apology, provide her with a neutral employment reference, expunge her personnel file of all references to the charge of discrimination, apologize to her, and pay her $90,000.

Kevin Wilemon - 06/26/2007


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