PepsiCo Beverage Sales, LLC hired the employee as a customer care advocate at its Winston-Salem, North Carolina call center in April 2022. According to the EEOC's suit, he requested a reasonable accommodation to access company computer systems needed to do his job. When PepsiCo concluded it could not provide one, it terminated him. The suit further alleged that PepsiCo rejected an offer from the North Carolina Department of Health and Human Resources to assist with identifying accessibility solutions.
The EEOC filed suit — Equal Employment Opportunity Commission v. PepsiCo Beverage Sales, LLC d/b/a PepsiCo Beverage Company, Case No. 1:24-cv-00456 — in the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of North Carolina after conciliation efforts failed.
The two-year consent decree goes beyond the monetary payment. PepsiCo is enjoined from failing to provide reasonable accommodations as required by the ADA, must work with an expert to ensure that certain software applications at the Winston-Salem facility are accessible to individuals with visual disabilities, make periodic progress reports to the EEOC, maintain and distribute an anti-discrimination policy addressing reasonable accommodations, provide relevant training at its Winston-Salem facility, and post a notice of rights and obligations under the ADA.
Melinda C. Dugas, regional attorney for the EEOC's Charlotte District Office, said the agency was pleased that PepsiCo is committed to working with a consultant to make its computer systems accessible to individuals with visual disabilities, and noted that accommodations specialists can be a valuable resource to help employers meet their obligations under the ADA.
The EEOC was represented by trial attorneys Amy Garber and Nicholas Wolfmeyer.