EEOC v. Autozone – Failure To Accommodate

On February 15 of this year, a federal Court of Appeals ruled that a jury was justified in finding an employer had willfully violated an employee's federal rights and knowingly disregarded the purpose of the Americans with Disabilities Act (the "ADA") when it denied an employee's repeated requests for an accommodation.

John Shepherd began working for an AutoZone store in Illinois in 1998. He had already suffered a permanent back injury while working for a different employer in 1996. The lingering results of the injury were that any repetitive twisting of his torso aggravated his condition and caused "flare-ups" of severe pain and swelling in his back and neck. He began working at AutoZone as a sales clerk and was promoted to parts sales manager a year later. He was successful in sales and even won AutoZone's prestigious "Extra Miler" award. He also was responsible for training new employees. Most of his work involved sales and customer service, but one of his job