The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission filed suit against Butterball, LLC, the Garner, North Carolina-based food processing company, alleging it violated the Americans with Disabilities Act by refusing to accommodate a long-term employee's breast cancer treatment and then terminating her for attendance violations stemming from her cancer-related absences.
According to the EEOC, the employee informed Butterball of her cancer diagnosis and requested intermittent leave to receive and recover from chemotherapy. The company referred her to a third-party benefits administrator, but the leave was never granted. She accumulated attendance points for the cancer-related absences and was fired under the company's attendance policy.
Melinda C. Dugas, Regional Attorney for the EEOC's Charlotte District Office, said that absent undue hardship, intermittent leave and exemptions from progressive attendance policies can be effective reasonable accommodations under federal law, and that even when an employer hires a third-party benefits administrator, the employer remains responsible for complying with anti-discrimination law.
The agency filed the case — EEOC v. Butterball, LLC, Case No. 5:26-cv-00202-FL — in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of North Carolina after first attempting to reach a pre-litigation settlement through its administrative conciliation process. The ADA requires employers to provide reasonable accommodations for qualified individuals with disabilities and prohibits discrimination on the basis of disability.
Butterball does business in Mt. Olive, North Carolina. The EEOC's Charlotte District Office has jurisdiction over North Carolina, South Carolina, and Virginia.