March 07--Jewel-Osco paid $400,000 to the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission to cover the agency's legal costs, after the supermarket chain violated a 2011 settlement of a disability lawsuit.
The EEOC said Friday that it is rare for the agency to recover fees for its work. But this case was unusual because the EEOC went back to court in 2012 to enforce the terms of the settlement.
The agency had alleged that Jewel-Osco broke its promise to the EEOC to fairly treat workers who wished to return to work after disability leave. In December, a federal judge held the company in contempt of court and ordered it to pay $82,000 in back wages to three former employees and cover the EEOC's legal costs.
In 2009, the EEOC accused Jewel-Osco of having a policy and practice of terminating employees with disabilities at the end of medical leaves of absence rather than bringing them back to work with reasonable accommodations. Approximately 1,000 employees at Jewel-Osco stores in the Chicago area were allegedly fired under this policy since 2003, the EEOC said
In the 2011 settlement, Jewel-Osco did not admit to any wrongdoing but agreed to pay $3.2 million to 110 former workers. The company also agreed to reform its human resources policies, train managers and regularly report to the EEOC for three years.
asachdev@tribpub.com
